Cruise Vacation
by MePo
Summary: The GRev go on a cruise, where they meet some old friends. TalaJulia, TyHil, MaxMir and others[“I don’t normally talk to myself, you know.” Tala’s smirk widened to a grin.]
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Well, here I go with another fic! I hope it turns out well; i'm just writing out sudden idea that hit me...

CHAPTER 1

It was a beautiful morning, with a gentle breeze and fluffy white clouds in the sky, passing merrily like flocks of sheep. Since it was so early, it wasn't too sunny. All in all, perfect weather.

At the G Revolution mansion, all was usually still at this time, but today, strangely, it was a flurry of activity. A large van was standing outside, with a young man of about 20 sitting at the wheel, honking impatiently every few minutes. This was Hiro Granger, G-Revolution coach. After the Justice-5 tournament, he had left BEGA League and rejoined the G Revolution.

Beside him, biting his nails nervously was a short boy with hair that covered his eyes, and glasses. This was Kenny, resident computer genius. His laptop, Dizzi, was on his lap. Taking off his glasses to wipe them on his shirt, he said, "Coach, they should all hurry up! At this rate, we'll miss the cruise."

"Relax," said a calm voice from the back of the van. It came from a boy with slate coloured hair and blue shark-fins on his cheeks. He didn't seem to share Kenny's edginess, as he was sitting with his eyes closed, legs crossed and arms folded. "We still have time." This was Kai Hiwatari, one-time world beyblading champion and one of the best bladers in the world.

"Oh, I sure hope so," replied Kenny. Then, looking out of the van, he pointed excitedly. "Look! There's Ray and the white tigers!"

A boy with long black hair put one foot on the steps of the van, and then stopped as he heard a pink haired girl calling to him: "Ray, wait up!" This was Mariah; she and her elder brother, Lee, were Ray's oldest friends. He flashed a smile at Mariah and waited for her to catch up. "Lee and Kevin are having an argument about who sits with Gary," said Mariah. "I say Kevin should, because Gary takes up a lot of space and Kevin is smaller than Lee. Lee can sit with me. But he doesn't want to because he thinks I'm hyper."

"He may have something there," grinned Ray. Mariah flushed and entered the van, taking a seat right behind Kenny. Ray sat down on a seat somewhere in the middle, and watched in amusement as Kevin and Lee entered the van, absorbed in an argument.

"I have to sleep, man!" exclaimed Lee.

"Oh, and I don't?" Kevin fired back.

Both of them were interrupted by Gary's good natured voice (Gary had just entered the van): "Why don't you both sit together and let me sit with Mariah? I'm not sleepy." And so, an agreement was reached and Gary joined Mariah up front. Kevin and Lee dropped off almost at once.

Ray settled back into his seat but suddenly opened his eyes as he sensed someone sitting down beside him. He opened his eyes and saw Miguel, formerly of the Barthez Battalion, sitting beside him. Behind him sat Aaron and Claud; Matilda was behind the driver's seat. "The rest are coming in a second," she said to Hiro, who just honked again. Looking toward the door, Ray saw it opening and a group of people bursting out. First came Raul and Julia, the twins who came third in last year's beyblading championships.

They seemed to be morning people, because they were walking pretty fast and entered the van before anyone else. Raul went and sat next to Matilda, while Julia sat alone.

After them, Tala, Bryan and Spencer entered. Everyone had been very happy when they found out they were joining the G-Revolution. The more the merrier, right? Bryan and Spencer made their way to the long seat at the back to sit beside Kai. Tala, however, made his way to where Julia was sitting. "Is this seat taken?" he asked.

"No," said Julia in evident surprise. "But aren't you going to sit with Kai and the others?"

"Not really," replied Tala, sitting down. "I'd rather get some sleep. Not that any of them are great talkers, of course."

They were followed by the former PPB all stars. Emily made her way to the front and sat with Kenny, where she soon got him talking about Dizzi. Everyone was very grateful, because Kenny had been annoying them by behaving like a total worry-wart. Max andRick sat behind Gary and Mariah, and Eddie and Michael sat opposite Ray. Last of all came Tyson and Hilary. Hilary was scolding a sleepy Tyson.

"You almost made us late! Don't you ever think about anyone else but yourself?"

"'Course I do," replied Tyson. This answer showed that he still wasn't fully awake. Hilary, surprisingly, didn't say anything else. She just took a seat. Tyson sat beside her and immediately dropped off.

"And we're off…" said Hiro, starting the van. "Finally…"

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A/N: So? How do you like it? Next chapter will be longer! R & R!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N : Thanks for your reviews, ppl! They mean a lot to me! Here's chapter 2; i hope you like it!

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The cruise was 45 minutes' drive away. Some of the G-Rev, such as Tyson, Lee and Kevin, decided to get some sleep. Others, like Tala and Ray, tried their best to but for some reason, once they were awake, they just couldn't get back to sleep. 

Julia was staring absent mindedly out of the window when she heard Tala move beside her. Realizing he wasn't asleep, she tried to make some conversation.

"So…" she remarked. "You're from Russia?"

"Yup," Tala replied, without even looking at her. Julia hadn't gotten the chance to talk to Tala properly and make his acquaintance, because he had only joined a few days ago.

"Cold place," she remarked, and immediately went red at how stupid her remark sounded.

Tala glanced at her for a second and then said "Yup" again.

"It must have been hard at the abbey," said Julia. Then she realized how tactless it was to have mentioned the abbey. Tala gave her a strange look and then replied, "Yeah…"

Julia didn't speak again, since it didn't seem that this conversation was going to do anything but embarrass her. Tala smirked inwardly; he knew she was trying to make conversation but he wasn't helping at all. She'd have to figure it out herself…

At that moment, Hiro called out, "Julia!"

"Yeah coach?" replied Julia.

"Come here a second."

Julia stood up and, crossing Tala, went to the driver's seat. "What's wrong?" she asked Hiro. "This isn't the right way."

"Yeah, I realize that," snapped Hiro. "I've lost my way; Raul told me you know the way."

"But Raul knows the way too!" exclaimed Julia, glaring at Raul. "Raul, why didn't you just tell him?"

"I forgot," said Raul with an innocent grin.

Julia groaned and turned to Hiro. "Ok, just turn right, and then go left at the fork in the road. Then you'll be back on the road. Oh, and watch out. It's a bumpy road." She turned at the same time as the van turned right, to go back to her seat. As she was about to sit down, the van went over a rut in the road. Julia would have fallen headlong onto the seat, but Tala reached out and grabbed hold of her shoulder. "Steady…" he drawled, letting go. Julia sat down in her seat, flushing.

"So, you live in Japan?" said Tala.

"Well, yeah," replied Julia. "Nowadays. When we were in the circus, we used to travel all over."

"Hot place," said Tala, with a slight smile.

"Yes," said Julia, her face burning. He didn't need to make fun of her! She fell quiet again.

Beside Hilary, Tyson was snoring loudly. Hilary put her face in her hands and groaned.

"Try poking him," suggested Ray with a smile.

"So that he wakes up and starts being his usual loud self?" replied Hilary. "No thanks."

"But Tyson _loves_ passing time on long journeys," said Ray, feigning innocence. "Maybe I should just…" he reached out to poke Tyson.

"NO!" shrieked Hilary. Unfortunately, she was so loud that she woke Tyson up. "How much time is left?" he asked sleepily. Max, who was sitting behind them, said brightly, "Oh, great! You're up! Now we can have some fun!"

"Yeah!" said Tyson, punching the air. Hilary, meanwhile, was glaring daggers at Ray, who was looking very amused. Tyson and Max stood up and made their way to the back, where Kai, Spencer and Bryan were sitting.

"Hey, Kai, old buddy old pal!" exclaimed Tyson. Kai opened his eyes and said in a suspicious voice, "What is it?" Over time, Kai had become good friends with most of his team mates in his own weird way.

"Do you want to have paper ball fights?" asked Max.

"No, I really don't," replied Kai, settling back into his original position. Tyson and Max, however, refused to be fazed. "Okay, then, we'll ask someone else!" said Tyson.

"Ray will play with you," Hilary spoke up. "He's the one who woke you up."

"Oh, Hilary!" said Tyson. "_You_ can join us!"

"No," she said firmly. At that moment, Hiro interrupted them by calling out from the front, "No paper ball fights! Tyson, Max, sit down. We'll be there in 5 minutes."

Sure enough, in 5 minutes' time the van had been parked, and now they had to unload their luggage.

"What we need," announced Emily "is a porter."

"I'll get one!" said Raul enthusiastically. Then, cupping his hands around his mouth, he bellowed: "Oi! PORTER!"

Julia, who was just getting off the van, groaned and walked over to her twin. "Raul, there _are_ no porters!"

"But Emily said…"

"Yeah, she said we _need_ one, not that there _is _one."

Raul's face fell. "Oh…"

At that moment, Hiro stepped off the van. "Since there are no porters," he said, "You'll all have to carry a suitcase each, and your own personal bags or i-pods or whatever…"

With considerable grumbling, everyone trouped to the back of the van to get their luggage. Grabbing a suitcase each, they staggered toward the ship.

Max had a suitcase, a bag, and an i-pod in his hands. As a result, he wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings and while walking up the gangway, he collided with somebody else and his i-pod went tumbling into the sea.

"No!" he yelled. "My i-pod!" Behind him, he heard someone say "Uh… sorry… I didn't see you…"

"No problem," replied Max, turning around. "They should really have port—" He stopped mid-sentence, and looked incredulously at the girl he had banged into. "_Miriam_?" he said. Then, looking behind her, he saw the rest of the Saintshields behind her. "Ozuma? Joseph? Dunga? This is AWESOME!"

"Max," came Tyson's voice. "You're blocking the way, dude!"

"Tyson! Look who's here! The Saintshields!"

"Seriously?" exclaimed Tyson, dropping his suitcases. "Hi guys!"

"Hello," replied Ozuma. "Maybe we should get onto the ship and then talk?"

"Oh, yeah…" replied Tyson. "Sure." Gathering up his suitcases, he started walking back up. Now that the blockage of the gangway was over, people stopped grumbling and went back on their way.

On the ship…

"So, Saintshields," said Max with a grin. Everyone had found their cabins and unpacked, and now the G-Revolution and the Saintshields were all gathered up on the deck of the ship. "What brings you guys here?"

"We split up ages ago…" said Miriam, "As a team, I mean. We stayed friends and all and when we heard of this cruise, we decided to take a vacation and go together, all four of us."

"Well, now we've ALL met!" said Tyson, bouncing up and down. "So we can have fun together!"

Meanwhile…

Julia was standing by the railing, staring at the water below. She seemed to be frozen in place, leaning dangerously far from the railing, just staring at the water. Her childhood fears had come rushing back, just when she thought they had left her forever.

Raul came up to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, sis," he said gently. "You okay?"

Julia answered without looking at him: "I'm still afraid of the water… I thought that I got over it… if I knew that I hadn't, I'd never have come on this cruise…"

"Hey, don't worry," replied Raul, trying to be cheerful. "Stay away from the railings and you'll be fine." He began to pull; her away from the railing, but she resisted, still gazing at the water. "I think I see something," she said softly.

"Julia, now you're being paranoid!" said Raul. "Come on, get away from the railing!"

"Alright, Raul!" she said, suddenly impatient. "Just let me stay here a little longer, okay?" Raul reluctantly walked away, and she resumed her staring at the water.

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A'N : Liked it? Hated it? REVIEW! D 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Yay! Thanks for your reviews, everybody! By the way, I haven't been doing the disclaimer, so...

Disclaimer : I don't own beyblade, aany of it's characters... or anything related to beyblade. -sniff-

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The Saintshields' cabins happened to be next to the G-Revolution's cabins, so they were spending a lot of time together. After dinner in the ship's huge dining room, they were just sitting around in one of the living rooms, reading, talking or simply relaxing.

Suddenly, Tyson stood up and said loudly, "Let's play dark room!"

"What's dark room?" asked Hilary in interest.

"Paying hide and seek in a dark room," replied Tyson. "Duh!"

Nobody noticed a girl with red hair sitting quietly in one corner of the room. She shut her book and looked up with interest. She would, of course, leave as soon as they started playing, but until then…

"Tyson," said Ozuma. "That's a very childish game."

"So what?" Tyson shot back. "Aren't you bored? Besides, I'll make sure to play pranks or make life miserable in any way for whoever doesn't!" Everyone knew what that meant, coming from Tyson, so they agreed to play hurriedly. It was decided that Ray would be 'it' first.

Without warning, Tyson switched the light off after Ray left the room. "Okay," he hissed, "You guys can hide now."

After a few moments, Ray's voice came through the door: "I'm coming in!" He entered the room and closed the door. 'Now,' thought the girl 'is the time to get out.' She knew exactly who all these people were, but unlike most people, didn't want to meet them, because she knew how awkward things could get for her. Getting to her feet, she listened intently for any sounds of a person close to her. She heard nothing. Relieved, she began to head for the door.

Suddenly, a voice hissed behind her, "Gotcha!" and someone grabbed hold of her shoulders. "Let go!" she hissed back, struggling to free herself. Ray (obviously it was him, since he was 'it') said in a confused voice, "Wait, I don't know you!" Retaining his hold on her shoulders, he marched her towards the door and took her outside.

"Sorry, I was in the room, and I didn't want to disturb anyone so I decided to leave when it was dark."

Ray, however, was looking at her with a slight frown. "Well, I'll be going now," she said, laughing nervously. It looked like Ray didn't recognize her; that was good.

"Wait a second," said Ray. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"No, I don't think so," she said nervously. "I guess I'll just go now…"

"No, I _know _I've met you before," said Ray, not removing his hands from her shoulders. "_Salima_?"

"T-That's my name," replied Salima, with an attempt at nonchalance. "But, uh, I don't think you know me. That must have been _another_ Salima."

Ray, however, grinned and said, "This is awesome, meeting you after all this time!" He led her back into the room and switched on the lights. "Hey guys, look who's here! Salima!"

Salima gave a perfunctory smile to the room at general. Everyone was crawling out of their hiding places, except a few, who had remained where they were. "What're you doing here, Salima?" asked Tyson, squeezing himself out of a gap behind the sofa.

"Oh, Kane and the others thought I'd been working really hard, and I needed vacation, so here I am," replied Salima.

She was soon introduced to everyone else, and then Tyson said brightly, "Hey! You can play dark room too!"

Salima tried to get out of it but it was impossible to argue with Tyson, so she agreed. "Ray gives the turn again!" exclaimed Tyson, pushing Ray out of the door, and ignoring his protests as such rough treatment. Flicking the light switch off, he said, "Everyone hide!" and proceeded to do so himself.

Salima looked around for a place to hide. She couldn't see anything so she felt her way into a corner of the room, where she sat down with her knees drawn up to her chin. Hopefully he wouldn't find her there.

Julia had curled up right beside the sofa, leaning against it. She was pretty sure that Tyson would find someone else before he got to her. That's why she was completely relaxed; until she found someone sit down against the wall next to her.

Se drew her knees up to her chin; she didn't want anyone to know where she was. She didn't want to be 'it'! However, someone must have heard her dragging her feet across the floor, and she heard the person next to her say, "Who's sitting here?" aloud. It was Tala's voice.

She remained silent. Next thing she knew, Tala had shot out a hand and was running it along the wall, trying to find out who was there. Julia got up and tiptoed into the middle of the room, where she bumped into someone else. It was Miriam, who seemed to have trouble finding somewhere to hide. With a loud, "Ouch!" both of them fell over in the dark.

"Who fell?" hissed someone, and then Julia and Miriam were pulled up by Miguel. However, in the dark they couldn't see anything and as they were walking (they thought they were walking back to their hiding places) all three collided again. 'GEEZ!" exclaimed Miguel. "Watch where you guys are going!"

And it was at this inopportune moment that Ray decided to come in. "NO!" shouted most of the people in the room, and next thing he knew, he had been tackled to the floor by several different people.

He blinked. He couldn't make out anyone's face in the dark but he was reasonably sure it was Tyson, Max and Miguel. "What're you guys doing?" he asked, when he finally got his breath back.

"We weren't ready!" said Tyson. "At least, Miguel and two others weren't."

"Couldn't you just told me?" asked Ray feebly. An argument was brewing up but at that moment the light was flicked on by Kai, revealing a very strange scene. Ray was on his stomach on the floor, with Max, Tyson and Miguel sitting on him. Julia and Miriam were both on the floor in the middle of the room, being helped up by Gary. Tala was sitting against the wall, shaking with silent laughter. People were crawling out of bizarre hiding places, and Salima was watching the scene unfold in amusement from her corner.

Kai said coolly, "What do all of you think you're doing?"

"I was TRYING to look for everyone when I was tackled by these oafs," replied Ray.

"Who're you calling an oaf?" asked Miguel, annoyed.

"You!" replied Ray.

Kai walked over to Ray, Tyson, Max and Miguel, and grabbing two of them by their collars, pulled them away from Ray. "Miguel, get off Ray," said Kai lazily. "And I don't think we should play dark room anymore. It's not a good idea." Saying this, he walked off, leaving the others to sort out the tangles.

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A/N: Well? How is it? I didn't know what to write really... if you guys have any suggestions for the next chapter, i'd love to hear em! 


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Well, here's chapter 4, i think. or is it ch 3? w/e... i introduce an OC in this one. tell me if you don't like her, because i shall then kill her off xD

CHAPTER 4

Kai, Ray, Max and Tyson were all standing at the railing (in short, all the former bladebreakers) talking about various things, discussing strategies and stuff like that. They were thrashing out Max's signature blading style when someone said from behind them, "Excuse me?"

They turned around to see a girl with shoulder length black hair and dark blue eyes standing before them. None of them said anything, waiting for her to speak. "Aren't you the Bladebreakers?" she said timidly.

"Yeah, we used to be," replied Tyson, "but now we're part of a different team."

"I meant the former bladebreakers," said the girl, with a nod. "Anyway, I beyblade… I've just started, and I was wondering if you'd battle with me?"

Tyson, never being one to turn down a challenge, said enthusiastically, "Sure! I'll face you! Come on!" He led her and the other three to the recreational room where there was a small beyblade dish.

Tyson was about to launch his beyblade when Kai stepped in front of him. Kai was looking faintly annoyed because the girl had interrupted them and he had a slight sneer on his face as he said, "I'll face her."

They launched their blades, but the girl's blade went right out of the dish. She apologized with a slight blush, picking up her beyblade and launching it again. Kai's sneer had become even more pronounced. Max and Ray were looking sympathetic and Tyson grumpy because he couldn't beyblade against her.

The battle, of course, was short, Kai knocking the girl out without a moment's delay. Taking back his blade, he said, "Call yourself a blader?" and walked out of the room.

The girl picked up her blade, her cheeks red. "Don't mind him," said Max consolingly. "He's a grouch bag… in the best way possible."

"When you get to know him," said Ray, "He's a lot better."

"Alright," said the girl dejectedly, picking up her beyblade. "I'll be going now."

"No, I'll face you!" exclaimed Tyson. "You need some tips, we can help you out!"

"Really?" said the girl, her expression lightening.

"Yeah," said all three boys in unison.

Later on, when the whole G-Revolution was gathered in the living room, Tyson, Ray and Max walked up to Kai. "Why were you so hard on Violet?" asked Ray.

"Who's Violet?" replied Kai, raising his eyebrows.

"That girl who you battled today," said Ray, trying to jog his memory.

A look of recognition dawned on Kai's face as he said, "Oh, right. If you could call that a battle." He sneered and went back to reading his book.

"C'mon, answer the question, Kai!" said Tyson.

"Whose side are the three of you on?" asked Kai, raising an eyebrow.

"Violet's!" said all three at the same time.

"Undutiful friends," said Kai, returning to his book. Next moment, the book had been snatched out of his hands by Max. He sighed exasperatedly and looked at Max. "Now what?"

"You're dancing around the subject!" said Max. "Answer the question, will you?"

With a slight smirk, Kai leant forward and snatched the book from Max's hand. "I don't dance," he replied, and after that he ignored all three of them as if they weren't even there.

That night, there was a party at the cruise. The objective was to let all the passengers get to know each other. The G-Rev was all going, as were the Saintshields and Salima.

When everyone was ready, they made their way down to the ball room where the party was taking place. When they reached they split up and started mingling with everyone.

Tyson was hopelessly bored. He was surrounded by a group of people; he had no difficulty in mingling but he'd rather be with his close friends. He craned his neck over the head of the girl who was talking to him, and saw Hilary standing in the corner. He looked at her blankly for a few seconds before he was brought back to reality by the girl waving her hand in front of his face.

"Earth to Tyson?" she giggled. Then she went into an endless prattle about how she thought his beyblading style was marvelous and how she hoped he could introduce her to the other members of his team.

"Uh, yeah, I really appreciate this and all," said Tyson, stifling a yawn with difficulty. "But I see a friend over there." Pushing his way through the crowd he went and stood beside Hilary.

"Having fun?" he asked Hilary with a smile.

"Yeah, it's a pretty good party, Tyson," replied Hilary.

"I s'pose so," replied Tyson. "The only thing is, this fan girl keeps coming up to me and talking… and talking… and talking. I don't know how to get rid of her!"

Hilary giggled, and pointed towards a certain direction. "If you think you're having problems, look at Kai," she said. Tyson looked and smiled. Kai was standing against a wall with his arms folded, surrounded by a giggling, simpering group of girls. They seemed to be asking him to dance over and over again, because again and again his lips were forming the word "No."

Suddenly, he walked calmly through the crowd and out of the room. Making his way to the deck, he saw one other person standing there: that girl he had battled. Her back was turned towards him and she had her beyblade spinning in front of her. She was clearly dressed for the party, but she seemed to be practicing rather than attending the party. 'She's fighting a losing battle,' thought Kai disinterestedly, as he prepared to walk away.

Suddenly, a voice said behind him, "Oh, it's you." He turned around, not bothering to reply. He raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to speak. However, she seemed to have flushed at that outburst (which she had said in a rather angry voice) and she turned away. Getting her beyblade back (which had stopped spinning) she walked back down towards the party. Kai shrugged slightly and turned back to the railing.

At the party, Salima was standing a wall. She caught sight of a purple haired teen who looked a year older than her, and who was definitely making his way towards her. She looked towards her side, seeing if there was any space to get away through; she wasn't in the mood to dance. But then, when she looked back at the teen, she thought she recognized him from somewhere. By this time, he had reached her. "Salima?" he asked in an English accent.

"Yes, and you are?" she asked politely.

"It's me, Robert," replied the teen with a smile.

Salima's eyes widened. "_Robert_? What brings you here? Are the rest of the Majestics here too?"

"They are," replied Robert with a nod. "Would you care to dance?"

Salima chuckled at his formality; he was one of her oldest friends and like a big brother to her. "Yeah, sure," she said, grinning.

"What are you laughing about?" asked Robert in confusion, as Salima wouldn't stop chuckling on the dance floor. She just shook her head. Robert's brow furrowed a bit. Then Salima remembered how seriously he was wont to take things, so she said, "I'm laughing at your accent… and how formal you are with me, your little sister… or at least, as close as one."

Roberts face relaxed into a smile. "Alright then, Frizz," he said, calling her what he used to when he was small. "And what's wrong with my accent?"

"Well, when I met you in Germany," replied Salima, "You talked like this: 'Me und my bruther liff in that house over the hill.' And now you have an English accent. You have to go to one extreme or the other, don't you?"

"I resent that," replied Robert with a smile that showed he didn't mean it. "Remember that day when I was shifting to the UK?"

_**Flashback**_

_A seven year old boy ran to the park, which was deserted except for a girl sitting and swinging her self to and fro on a swing. _

"_Frizz!" he said in a thick German accent. "I haff news."_

"_Really?" said the girl, turning around. "What is that?"_

"_My parents say I am going avay vith them," said the boy. "To some place called the United Kingdom."_

"_Oh," replied Salima, her eyes widening. "You mean England?" _

"_No!" said the boy stubbornly, folding his arms. "They said United Kingdom. Not England. Vhat is England?"_

"_The United Kingdom, silly!" replied Salima. "So when will you come back?"_

"_Never," he replied solemnly. "Never und never."_

"_Okay," replied Salima, too young to understand. "Well, Robert, will you go an' never ever come back, ever?"_

"_That is vhat I said," replied Robert._

"_Okay, Robert!" she said brightly. "Have fun!"_

_**End flashback**_

"Yeah," said Salima, nodding. "I just didn't get it."

"Neither did I, as a matter of fact," replied Robert. I just thought "never und never" sounded imposing."

Salima laughed. "Boy, were we weird."

"Speak for yourself," Robert replied with a smile. Salima however was now looking at Raul and Julia, who seemed to be having an argument.

"Come on, Raul, it's stupid," said Julia, plucking at a hat she was wearing. "It looks so dumb. Who wears hats at these kinds of parties?"

"Well, sis, I say it looks nice," replied Raul, folding his arms. "Besides, I don't like people staring at your hair."

"Honestly, Raul," said Julia, rolling her eyes at how brotherly and overprotective Raul was acting. "Why would anyone in their right minds stare at my hair?"

"Because it's bright orange!" stated Raul.

"Then you wear a hat too," smirked Julia, seemingly conjuring a hat out of nowhere.

"Me?" exclaimed Raul, snatching the hat from Julia. "Why would I wear a hat?"

"Well, if I have to wear a hat then you have to wear a hat," replied Julia stubbornly.

"Why don't you both discard the hats," said Tala from behind them, "And spare us all from a shouting match?"

"Fine!" said both of them, turning around and handing him the hats. Then, folding their arms, they faced opposite directions with a "humph".

Tala looked at both of them, amused. "The two of you need to get some distance," he said. "Maybe you should just go up to your cabins." He looked on as both of them left the party, an argument starting between them again.

The party ended quite late at night, with the G-Rev being reunited with the Majestics. Everyone went to bed contented; it had been a relatively fun day.

a?N: Well? how'd you like it? and i know tht there are readers so REVIEW! pretty please with sugar on top? lol


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Another chapter! The ;longest yet! Thank you, Desastrus, for your review! Oh, and I meant to do this last chapter but i forgot: A special thanks to SilverKaya, who helped me out a lot. **THANK YOU, SILVERKAYA! **although she doesn't review any more, she took a lot of trouble trying to help me so yeah, thanks Kaya, you rock!

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There had been a dead calm all through the day. But now the wind was picking up speed; it became faster and faster by the minute. The captain realized that a storm was coming up. He chewed on his cigarette agitatedly. They were not in danger; his ship had been carefully designed and built. He just hoped the passengers had the good sense to get off the deck and go down to their cabins.

On the deck…

Miriam slipped away quietly, leaving the rest of the G-Revolution. She loved storms and she was waiting for it to come. She knew that they would make her go down to the cabins but she didn't want to. She noticed everyone was walking off now. She walked towards the front of the ship, hoping fervently she wasn't being watched.

Down in the cabins…

The G-Revolution was all gathered in the living room along with the Majestics and the Saintshields. Miriam, however, was no where to be seen. Ozuma, Joseph and Dunga weren't in the least worried. As Joseph said, they'd probably earn a thump on the head from Miriam if they tried to make her do something she didn't want to do. But happy, carefree Max was rather worried. 'Storms and ships? Not a good combination.' He thought with a frown.

Standing up, he made his way across the room. Maybe he should go find her. But then he was stopped by someone grabbing his arm. It was Joseph. "Max, I know my sister," said Joseph. "And you do not want to make her angry. She'll come down when she wants."

"No," frowned Max, shaking hiss head stubbornly. "I think it's dangerous and you, as her brother, should be worried. Since you're not, I am."

Joseph clenched and unclenched his fists. "Alright then," he hissed. "Alright. Go ahead. You'll see that I'm right."

Max frowned and left the room, making his way up to the deck. Out on the deck, there was so much wind that the rain could hardly be felt. He couldn't see anything more than five feet away from him. Narrowing his eyes against the wind and rain, he moved forward.

As he did so, he caught sight of someone twirling around, her arms out flung and her hair flying. She was laughing and seemed totally happy. Max squinted, trying to get a closer look at her. It was Miriam. Max's eyes widened. She was never this carefree and happy in front of them! It would be a pity to ruin her fun. Max sat down where he was, waiting for her to stop. Then he'd walk with her back to the rest of the people.

Miriam had no idea she was being watched. She was always affected by a storm this way. She loved the howling of the wind and the scattered raindrops falling here and there. So she kept on twirling around and around, moving wherever her feet took her. Suddenly, she tripped over something and almost fell, but managed to control herself. Standing straight, she saw that what she had tripped on was a someone, not a something. He seemed much clumsier than her, so she bent down and helped him up.

"Miriam," said Max, who had fallen over when she bumped into him. "You should come down to the cabin."

"Why should I?" asked Miriam with a frown. "I was having fun, in case you didn't notice." Then, the reality dawned upon Miriam. "What were you doing watching me?" she hissed angrily.

"I thought that being outside on a ship in a storm was dangerous," said Max with a nervous laugh. Then, he untied the jacket he usually kept around his waist. "Here, take this. You must be cold."

Miriam looked at him suspiciously before taking the jacket and shrugging it on. Then turning around, she started walking in the direction of the cabins and living room. Max ran to catch up with her. "Why don't you ever act that happy around others?" he asked curiously.

"Because that's not who I am," replied Miriam, with another frown.

"Yes it is," said Max. "The you that we see is not who you are." They both fell quiet and walked back to the living room.

As they entered the room, Joseph jumped up gleefully. "Did she pulverize you?" he asked with a grin. Max grinned back and shook his head. "Nah," he said. "How can anyone pulverize me?" He made a puppy face, after which he burst into laughter. Everybody else laughed with him. Miriam gnashed her teeth and sat down in the corner, opening a magazine that had just been tossed aside.

Tyson, who was now sitting beside Max, nudged him with a mischievous smile. "Max and Miriam," he whispered in Max's ear. "Sitting in a- oof!" Max had punched him lightly in the stomach. Tyson, after recovering, gave another evil smile to Max. "So it's true," he whispered, not wanting to raise his voice. After all, he didn't want to embarrass Max!

"It's not!" replied Max hotly, his face going red.

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Break it up," said Ray with a laugh, sitting down in between them. "What're the two of you arguing about anyways?"

"None of your business," pouted Max, folding his arms. Then he muttered under his breath, "Tyson likes Hilary."

"Where'd that come from?" exclaimed Ray, and then, turning to Tyson, "Dude, is he serious?"

"No!" replied Tyson. "He's just angry because I know that he… Argh! Don't punch me again!" Getting up, he left the room at a ruin with Max chasing after him. Ray watched them go with a puzzled expression. As they exited, Salima entered. Tyson passed her bellowing "MAKE WAY!" and Max, "Tyson! GET BACK HERE!" She turned around and watched them go with a faint smile. Then, shaking her head, she made her way to the sofa that Ray was sitting on.

"Hello," Ray greeted her with a smile.

"Oh, hi," replied Salima, looking slightly flustered. "I didn't notice you. I was distracted."

"Oh, by Tyson and Max," said Ray understandingly.

"Yeah," replied Salima with a nod. "What happened anyway?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," replied Ray, smiling again. For some reason, Salima suddenly stood up. "I think I see Robert…" she faltered, walking off quickly to where the Majestics were sitting. Ray stared after her, looking confused.

Enrique looked up and smiled at Salima. It had taken her no time at all to become good friends with all of them. They had all become like brothers to her. "Hello," he greeted her. "Why did you leave Ray?"

Salima frowned at him slightly before returning the greeting. "Why shouldn't I?"

"Because you l—" Johnny began with a grin, only to get a light tap on the head from Oliver. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"Salima should feel comfortable here. Not driven off by your tactlessness," said Oliver, smiling.

"Salima does NOT feel driven off by me," said Johnny. Folding his arms and closing his eyes. Getting no response, he opened one eye and faltered, "Right—Salima?" Laughing, Salima said, "Right." Then turning to Robert, she said in a fake German accent, "Vell, Robert! You haff not spoken much." But she didn't receive the laugh or the word of reproach that she usually got. She looked at Oliver, confused. Oliver smiled mischievously and said, "Robert is thinking about Claire."

"Oh?" replied Salima, mirroring his smile. Oliver was the youngest of the team, her own age, so she got along especially well with him, "Who may that be?"

"Oliver," began Robert. "It is…"

"Uncouth to discuss a person when that person is present and in hearing range," chanted Johnny, Oliver and Enrique at the same time.

Salima laughed as Oliver continued, his smile even wider, "Especially when it considers the said person's _girlfriend_!"

"WHAT!" Salima exclaimed. "Tell me about her! Now!" she sat down right in front of Robert and allowed an expectant look to cover her face. Robert smiled at her and shook his head. "Some other time," he replied with a smile.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Meanwhile, The girl who had challenged Kai to a beybattle, Violet, had entered the room. She had a box in her hands and she was looking down into it, so absorbed that she almost walked into a wall. Fortunately, though, she looked up just in time to save herself. That was when she noticed all the famous bladers sitting there. Her eyes widened as she took in the scene. "Sorry," she mumbled, when suddenly Tyson came running into the room and seizing her by the shoulders, thrust her in front of him like a shield. Max ran in after him and paused, catching his breath.

"Violet!" squeaked Tyson. "Protect me!" Violet tossed her box and laughingly spread her arms out wide. "Max, what are you doing?" she exclaimed, as she continuously moved from left to right, and right to left in order to prevent Max from getting to Tyson.

"I'm gonna punch him," replied Max with a maniacal grin. Then he noticed Kai coming towards them, and his grin faltered. "Or maybe not," he muttered, hastily stepping back. Tyson, on the other hand, pulled Violet in front of him in such a way that she was between him and Kai, and repeated, "Like I said, protect me!"

Violet couldn't help but grin, but it soon faded as Kai glared at her. "This is a _private _lounge," he said.

"Yes, I said I'm sorry!" replied Violet. "I'll leave now." Shaking Tyson off, she turned to leave, but then she was pulled back by a pink haired girl. "Hey Violet," she said. "You don't have to listen to Kai, he's a sourpuss! Come, sit with us." She pulled a reluctant Violet with her box along. Kai glowered after them, and then turned to Tyson, who slid behind Max. Max, on the other hand, chanted under his breath, "Kai and Violet…"

"Don't even go there," said Kai through clenched teeth, turning around and stomping out of the room, with Max and Tyson following him, grins plastered across their faces.

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A'N: Yes, i know the ending was stupid but apart from that , how was it? I tried MaxMir for the first time. i don't think it was too bad, do you? i had to think about what to write for ages though. And I thought i'd tell you guys the pairings now(at least, the ones I'm sure of). TyHil(which im having difficulty with) MaxMir, KaixOC, TalaxJulia, RaulxMatilda(which for some reason i think is unbelievably cute!) and probably RaySal!

REVIEW! PLease? -puppydog eyes- It makes me very happy to get reviews And btw, school has started so i won't be updating more frequently than once a week!

Ciao!

MP.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Here's chapter 6! Thank you, whyamidoingthis01, for your brutally honest review! I really appreciated it! Maybe you'll feel different about my pairings as the story progresses, eh? and By the way, i don't mind bad reviews as long as they're not rude. and i DID plan ahead. i thought i'd let you know. i'm not writing this in a haphazard way. that's the only part of your review that really stung. apart from that, thank you for taking the time to give your opinion; it'll help me out a lot. i hope you keep reading. thanks to Jessica Broward for the review too.

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Hilary tiptoed to deck. It was late at night and she was dead sleepy but she had caught a glimpse of a certain navy-haired boy with a baseball cap sitting alone on deck, beside the pool (AN: Yes, there are pools on cruises!) Wondering why he was sitting so silently and still (which was very uncharacteristic of the spirited beyblader), she decided to sit with him or a while.

"What're you thinking about?" said Hilary, sitting beside him, her legs dangling over the edge of the pool.

Tyson seemed to snap out of a reverie, looking up. The thoughtful expression on his face made him look very intelligent. "Oh, hi Hil," he said in a low voice. "Nothing really, just thinking about the times when we were the Bladebreakers."

"Oh?" asked Hilary in surprise. "Anything specific?"

"Yeah, we used to be such great friends, all of us," said Tyson, with a small smile. "And then the team split up." His face darkened. "All because they all wanted to beat me. Sometimes I think that maybe I should have let them win; maybe then they wouldn't be against me."

"Aw," said Hilary, squeezing his arm. "It doesn't matter if they felt like that once, Tyson. Now they don't. Now you're best of friends, right?"

"Yeah," said Tyson, looking marginally happier. "We are." He looked up at the stars. Beside him, Hilary yawned. "You should go to bed," he said, turning towards her.

"No, no," she replied, stifling another yawn. "I'll sit with you."

With a shrug, Tyson turned back again, gazing at the night sky. "You know, Hil," he said softly. "We've been through a lot of tight spots together and you've stuck with me through thick and thin. I want to thank you for that." He felt a weight on his shoulder, and saw that Hilary was resting her head there and had gone to sleep.

He was about to wake up when the thought suddenly occurred to him that she wouldn't like being woken. So he lifted her up gently, so as to let her sleep, and walked to the cabin she shared with Julia, Matilda and Mariah. He knocked and walked in. All three girls were awake and they looked startled to see him. Matilda was about to say something when he put a finger to his lips, gently lowering Hilary onto one of the bunks.

"Sh," he whispered, "I don't want to wake her up." Saying this, he left the room, leaving the three girls to stare at the door.

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Ray rested his chin on the railing, smiling a little. He had seen the whole thing and had been extremely surprised about how thoughtful and considerate Tyson could be. It was strange; sometimes he could be the most tactless person on earth, caring about nothing but himself, going about things in the most headstrong way. Then, suddenly, he would undergo a complete transformation and turn into a totally sensitive, caring guy.

As for Hilary, it was obvious that she cared a lot about Tyson, much more than any other team mates, but Tyson seemed completely oblivious to that. Ray started thinking about ways to let Tyson know indirectly.

Looking to his right, he noticed for the first time that Salima was standing a little way off. Maybe she could help. He walked over to her.

"You saw the whole thing?" asked Ray.

"Yes," replied Salima, nodding. "I never saw that side of Tyson before…"

"Yeah, sometimes I think he doesn't even know it's there," said Ray. They both laughed. "So we have to tell him somehow."

"I see what you're getting at," said Salima thoughtfully. "Maybe we could…

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Next day:

Tyson wasn't waking up and it was already lunchtime. Even the mention of food didn't wake him up. It was because he had stayed up till pretty late last night, not being able to go to sleep. Kai, Ray and Max (who shared the cabin with him) had tried every method possible to wake him up but it just wasn't working.

Finally, in desperation, they turned to Hiro. "Don't worry," he said grimly. "I know exactly what to do. It takes a combination of events to get him up, not just one glass of water on his face or a yell in his ear."

He strode into the room, snatched Tyson's blanket, whacked him on the back, threw a jug of icy water at him, and then yelled, "GET UP! NOW!"

"Alright, alright," mumbled Tyson, sitting up. "I'm up already." Grumbling, he walked past Hiro, living a trail of water behind him (Hiro hadn't been the only one throwing water at him!)

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At the ship's small restaurant, everyone was sitting at different tables and eating. The Barthezes and F-Dynasty were at one table. Raul was sitting beside Matilda, deep in conversation with her. Julia was discussing beyblading with Miguel, and Aaron and Claude were discussing nothing in particular.

As Miguel fell quiet, preoccupied with his food, Julia looked at Raul and Matilda. Raul seemed to be telling Matilda a joke. Matilda was giggling. Julia smiled in amusement, looking at the two of them. They were incredibly cute together. Just at that moment he looked up, noticing Julia's smile. He flushed and muttered, "Be right back", getting up to fetch something to drink. "Anyone want anything to drink?" he asked. No one did. He left the table.

Julia got up and sat next to Matilda. "So," she said with a smirk.

"So what?" asked the younger teen, going red.

"You and Raul," grinned Julia.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," replied Matilda.

"Right," replied Julia, in a voice which clearly showed she didn't believe her. "Well, I'll be going now," she said, wiping her hands on a napkin. "And just so you know, he likes you too." She walked off, leaving Matilda staring after her, bright red.

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Max walked down the hallway, when suddenly he heard banging. "What was that?" he wondered, looking around. Then, he saw Tyson and Michael (from the All stars) standing outside a small closet, sniggering. The banging was apparently coming from inside.

"Hey guys!" said Max brightly. "What's going on?"

"Kai's in there." said Tyson, pointing at the closet. "We locked him in."

Kai's voice came from inside the closet, "Let me out! Now!" He started ramming his shoulder against the door. "I'll break the door down… and when I do!"

"ARGH! RUN!" said Tyson, bolting. Michael and Max followed suit. They had no doubt in their minds that if Kai wanted to break down the door, he would break down the door. And they didn't want to around when he did.

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A/N: Right, i'm sorry about this chapter, because it was very short and very lame. well, i wrote it despite the fact i have writer's block so forgive me for the lapse :P and this update took longer than usual too, did it not? Well, sorry again. keep reading. it'll get better, i promise!

MP


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Yay! The next chapter!

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A stewardess walked along the corridor, making sure everything was in order. As she was walking, a blond boy in a green shirt shot past her, panting, followed by a navy-haired boy and another blond with caps. She stared at them, seeing them skid around a corner and disappear. Then, she continued walking.

The next thing out of ordinary that she heard was a muffled banging. It was coming from the broom closet. She looked at it in surprise, when suddenly, the door burst off its hinges and an angry-looking passenger stepped out. His slate hair was disheveled and one end of his scarf was trailing on the ground. His crimson eyes were angry. He dusted his hands together, looking around. The stewardess just stared at him in shock.

As he caught sight of her, he walked over to her and said, "Excuse me, did three people my age just run past? One was blue haired, the others were blond."

"Sir," said the stewardess, gathering herself. You could have done serious damage."

"Oh, that," he replied in a bored voice, digging in his pocket. He took out a wad of notes and handed them to her. "You fix that. I've got something to take care of." He walked away.

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Max, Tyson and Michael were in the ship's kitchen. The cook was a jovial, kind hearted man and with Max and Tyson's friendly personalities and Michael's enthusiastic one, he had been easily persuaded to let them hide in the kitchen.

"What's this?" asked Tyson curiously, lifting the lid off a pot. "Yum, soup!"

"Yes, it's for dinner today," beamed the cook. "Here…" He ladled out soup into three bowls and handed it to the three pranksters. Then, one of the assistant cooks came running up and whispered something in his ear.

"You must leave!" said the cook urgently to the boys. "That friend of yours… Kai, no? He is coming this way."

"Oh, crud!" said Michael, getting up at once.

"You go hide in the bridge," said the man. "I talk to the captain at once!"

The three of them ran towards the bridge.

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In the bridge, the captain and first mate stood over a map. "When we stop here," said the captain, pointing at a point on the map, "We have to have it repaired."

"Sir," said the first mate, saluting with two fingers. Just then, three boys burst in with bowls of soup ion their hands.

"Ah," said the captain, straightening up. "You must be those three boys the cook was talking about. I don't know what you did to him, but he sure does like you. You may sit there, and please don't disturb us."

As the two continued their hushed conversation, Michael asked Tyson, "How long does it usually take Kai to cool down?"

"Kai?" said Tyson cheerfully. "Oh, he doesn't until he has his revenge. We'll have to face the music some time or the other."

"You idiot!" said Michael. "Why not just face it right now?" Standing up, he dragged Tyson by the ear down to the deck. Max followed. There, they ran into Kai.

"It wasn't me, I swear it!" said Max, backing away.

"It was Tyson's idea!" said Michael.

Kai looked at all three of them. "I'll let it go this time," he said. "But there had better not be a next time."

Max perked up, Tyson stopped cowering and Michael's jaw dropped. "Thanks dude!" exclaimed Tyson, grinning. "Now, do you know the chef?" Slinging one arm around Max's shoulder and the other around Kai's, he walked off with them in the direction of the kitchen, chattering animatedly about the chef and his cooking.

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"Attention all passengers," the captain's voice blared over a megaphone. "During the storm a slight amount of damage was done to the ship. It was nothing serious, but at our next scheduled stop, at Russia, we will stop for a full week instead of the usual 48 hours in order to have repairs done. Hotel rooms will be booked for passengers at the ship's expense. We apologize for the delay. This means that the cruise will reach back to its original destination, Japan, several days late."

"You know what that means!" said Max, bursting into the living room. "We'll be spending Christmas on board."

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The hotel was a luxurious, five star one, and there were four people to each suite of rooms. After they had settled in, they all went their separate ways, some going shopping, some sightseeing, and some just staying back in their rooms.

Julia went out for a walk. She wanted to see if there were any local bladers she could match. While wandering down the streets, she turned into a dark alley. It turned out to be a dead end. As she turned around to walk back, she found herself surrounded by a bunch of thick, bulky men in their early 20s. Backing against the wall, she took out her beyblade with shaking hands and said, "I'm not afraid to use it."

To her horror, each of the men took out beyblades of their own, and the one in front said, "Neither are we."

Julia was about to launch her beyblade when a delicate looking hand with long, slender fingers snatched it out of her hands. "I'll take that," said a masculine voice. A young man, looking nineteen years of age, dropped from the roof of the building above her right in front of her. He had long, straight green hair, falling over his face, and glittering green eyes. He was very tall, and not nearly as bulky as his cronies. He was obviously the leader. There was no denying he was one of the most handsome boys Julia had ever seen.

With a flourish, he bowed to Julia. "We welcome you to Russia," he said courteously. There was a bit of sniggering behind him from his men.

"You jerk!" said Julia angrily, her teeth chattering a little because of the cold. "Give me my blade!"

He smiled at her and said, "I prefer not to." He reminded her of Brooklyn in some way. Then, noticing her involuntarily rub her arms, he said, "Are you feeling cold?" in a concerned voice.

"N-no," she chattered defiantly. He laughed and shrugged off the fur cape he was hearing. "Here," he said. "Take this." He draped it over her shoulders before she could protest. She involuntarily pulled it closer around herself, gratefully welcoming the warmth. Then she suddenly realized that this was probably another way t mock her. "You jerk!" she repeated, and swung one fist out to punch him. He caught it with ease. She tried to punch him with her other hand, but he caught that too. Then, he pulled her closer and said, "Please. Call me Dave."

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It was late at night and Julia hadn't returned to the hotel. Raul was nearly crazy with worry about his twin. He was pacing up and down in front of his room mates, Miguel, Aaron and Claude. "Where could she be?" he said agitatedly. "It's been… four hours!" he said, checking his watch. "That's it, I'm telling the others."

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"I wonder why Raul called the Barthezes up to his room," said Hilary in a low voice to Mariah. "Everyone else is sitting here, except Julia. I expect she's already gone to bed."

At that moment, Raul burst in. "Julia has been kidnapped!" he said dramatically, standing in the doorway.

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A/N:Well, this chapter was a bit... how do i say it? slow... but things will pick up soon! REVIEW!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Hey, that was quick! Lol...

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"She's WHAT!" screeched Mariah. "Hilary, you told me she's gone to bed."

"No, I said I _thought_ she's gone to bed!" replied Hilary, her face white with worry. "Raul, how do you know?"

"I have this feeling!" said Raul frantically. Seeing the confused look on the others' faces, he said, "It's a twin thing, okay? Like when she got lost in the woods once and I had that feeling and we went to look for her, the circus family and I, and we found her. It was all because of my feeling!"

Kai raised an eyebrow. "All right, don't get frantic," he said, thinking of what they could do.

"Don't get frantic?" exclaimed Raul. "How could I not get frantic? My twin's been kidnapped, Kai, kidnapped! Do you have a twin, Kai? NO! You don't! So you have no idea how it feels if your twin gets kidnapped. So don't tell me not to get frantic just because you're not frantic!"

"_Calm down_," said Tala. "You're not getting anywhere by fretting."

"JUST BECAUSE YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT MY TWIN DOESN"T MEAN I DON'T!" he bellowed. Matilda got up and put a hand on his shoulder timidly. "We all care about Julia," she said in a low voice. "But we need to think calmly." Raul quieted down and sat on a nearby armchair, casting murderous looks at Kai and Tala every now and then.

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Julia glared up at Dave. "Let me go, _Dave_," she said through clenched teeth. He laughed and let her go, retaining his hold on only one arm. Untying a black neck cloth from around his neck, he tied it over Julia's eyes. "So that you don't see the way to our hideout," he explained, carefully tying a knot. By now Julia was completely resigned to her fate, and walked beside him limply.

After about 20 minutes of walking, she heard a door opening and Dave pulled her into a deliciously warm place. At the same time, he pulled off the blindfold, tying it back around his neck. Julia gasped. They were in what looked like a very luxuriously furnished, heated warehouse.

"Make yourself comfortable," said Dave, taking the coat back and locking the door. All of Dave's cronies had also stepped in. and were now lounging about on sofas or chairs.

Julia made her ay to the most uncomfortable chair she could find and sat in it rigidly, staring glassily ahead. Dave saw her and laughed quietly. "She's very obstinate" he thought, walking towards her. When he reached her, he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and shook it gently. "You don't need to be stubborn," he smiled. "It will be much easier for you."

She jerked her face away. "Why did you kidnap me?" she said in a low voice.

"For the heck of it," he shrugged. She looked up in shock and anger. "_You kidnapped me for the heck of it_?" she hissed. "And I suppose all this stuff is stolen," gesturing towards the furniture and all the other facilities. "I suppose you're a thief too, right, kidnapping wasn't enough…"

"No, this stuff is bought from my own money," he replied with a frown. "My uncle died a few years back and he left me a good deal of estates and property. I don't steal. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to send a ransom note to your team, _Julia_."

"Why do you need a ransom if you're already rich?" exclaimed Julia.

Dave stopped in his tracks and turned around. He had an inexplicable smirk on his face s he said, "It would go against the principles of kidnapping if I didn't ask for a ransom." Tying his black neck cloth over the lower half of his face, he kissed his fingers to her tauntingly and winked before throwing his hood over his head and leaving.

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At the hotel, Raul got a phone call at the reception of the hotel. "Hello?" he said, trying to hide the anxiety in his voice.

"Are you Raul, from the F-Dynasty?" asked a voice over the phone.

"Yes, yes I am," replied Raul, surprised.

"We have your sister."

"YOU kidnapped her?" exclaimed Raul. "Wait till I get my hands on you!"

"That will be rather hard for you. Now, I'm giving you a place to meet me at. Meet me there in half an hour. We'll negotiate her return."

He gave Raul the address and hung up. "I don't know my way around Russia!" thought Raul. "Aw, this stinks…" Then, he got an idea: he would get Kai to go with him!

"Kai!" he called, seeing the Russian on the opposite side of the lobby, walking towards the elevators. He stopped, waiting for Raul to catch up. "Kai, I need your help," said Raul, handing Kai a slip of paper with the address written on it. "Do you know this place?"

Kai nodded. "Let's go," he said. "It's a good 25 minutes' walk from here.

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Julia crept out of the warehouse. No one had seen her. She sighed in relief. She would come back later for her beyblade, this time with help. But when she saw where she was, she stopped short. She had no idea where to go! Closing her eyes for a second, she plunged into the direction of the nearest alleyway.

After a while, she came to a dead end which looked very familiar. This was where she had ended up before! Cursing mentally, she turned around to go, but yet again found herself confronted by a bunch of men. This time they were different.

The leader stepped up and pushed her against the wall. "What're you doing in this here locality, little girl?" he leered, showing yellow teeth. She glared at him, her heart pounding. She was scared out of her wits, looking around for means of escape. The man had taken out a dagger.

Just then, a familiar figure jumped in front of her. "Well, well, well," he said. "You've stooped low enough to steal other people's hostages, have you, Roger?"

Julia stared. It was Dave! The man whom Dave had called Roger looked at him sullenly, and then muttered "Come on," to his men, disappearing.

Dave turned around, surveying Julia. "You shouldn't have tried to escape, you know that?" he said, taking hold of her arm. "We're not going to harm you. Now come. Your brother wants to meet you."

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A/N: Well, I think it was better than the previous chapter, albeit a little short than usual. What'd you think? REVIEW! 


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Finally! I tried to put this up before but for some weird reasons i couldn't.

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Raul trailed behind Kai, every now and then whining, "When are we going to get there?" Kai merely ignored him. Finally they came to an area where there were hardly any people. At the far end of the street was a tall boy whose face was entirely hidden because of a hood and a cloth and…

"JULIA!" yelled Raul, breaking into a run. Kai just walked behind him at a leisurely pace, taking his time. The boy was holding onto Julia's arm, and she looked extremely shaken up.

"Let go of my sister," said Raul, adding an extremely rude word.

"You and your sister sure like name calling, don't you?" replied the boy. "Well, I suggest you call me Dave."

"What do you want?" said Raul, balling his hands into fists.

"A ransom," shrugged Dave, "Or something to reward my efforts. Your sister is not easy to kidnap."

Julia glowered at him. "And besides," continued Dave, "I just saved her life." Nudging Julia, he said, "Didn't I just save your life?"

He didn't get a reply. Laughing, he turned back to Raul. "Why don't you suggest something? I really haven't given it much thought. But make it worthwhile."

Raul looked at his sister tensely and then said, "Look, can we meet up same time same place tomorrow to discuss it?"

"Whatever pleases you," replied Dave. "Later, then." He walked off, pulling Julia alongside him.

When they entered the warehouse, Julia again made her way to the same chair and sat down. Dave followed her and sat down beside her. "C'mon," he said, looking at the 17 year old. "What's bothering you? Do you want me to get another girl to keep you company?"

Julia's lips twitched. He talked about 'getting another girl' as if he was going to walk to the grocery store and buy one. "No," she replied, shaking her head.

"Then what?" he asked impatiently.

"I don't want you to get anything, I just want to get out of her!" she snapped.

"Well, that's not going to happen!" he snapped back. "So get used to it!" Standing up, he looked at her angrily. "You have to learn to adapt to the situation," he said before walking off.

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At the hotel, the atmosphere was tense. Everyone was gathered in a room and the people who usually brought life to the place were quiet. Tyson was angry that anyone would kidnap a member of his team. Max was taken aback at the thought of losing a friend. Raul was naturally down in the dumps and everyone else was feeling depressed because of the general atmosphere of the room.

The Saintshields, Majestics and Salima were sitting together in a group, feeling like outsiders because they hadn't known Julia for very long. Suddenly, Salima stood up. "I'm going for a walk," she said. "It's all too depressing here right now."

"No you're not," said Robert firmly.

"What!" she said. "Why not?"

"Someone has to go with you."

"Fine," snapped Salima, and then, raising her voice, "Does anyone want to come with me? I'm going for a walk."

"I'll come," said Ray, scrambling up from his cushion beside the fire.

Salima stuck her tongue out at Robert, who hadn't wanted her to go, and walked out of the door behind Ray.

Outside, se tried to make conversation by asking, "So why did you come for a walk anyway? I thought you'd much rather be with your teammates."

"We wouldn't want you getting kidnapped too, would we?"

"Uh, I don't think that would happen but thanks anyway," she said. They walked in silence for a while, when Ray suddenly put an arms around her shoulders and pulled her to his left.

"What are you doing?" exclaimed Salima, squirming out of his grasp.

"That man over there," he nodded towards his right, "he has a gun."

"A- a gun?" she squeaked, a look of fright coming over her features.

"Don't worry," he said reassuringly. "He's probably just a cop." He looked once more towards his right before walking on. "Better safe than sorry."

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_The man walked out of the shadowed with an eerie sliding motion. Drawing closer and closer, he began to draw his hand out of under his cloak. She stood rooted to the spot, looking at him, watching him come towards her._

_He was right next to her now. Extending his hand, he pushed her. She opened her mouth to scream but no scream would come out. She hurtled down into the depths below, while the man just stood and looked. She tried to call out for help but no one would come._

"No… no…." said Julia, tossing and turning in the bed. Suddenly she sat up, cold sweat breaking out on her forehead. She hadn't been in a bed before! She began to panic, completely disorientated and confused. Her legs were entangled in the sheets and she tried to let out a scream but, like in the dream, she couldn't. all that came out of her mouth was a whimper. Next moment, someone had put his arms around her and was hugging her. "Sh," he said. "It was just a dream."

She gradually went back to sleep. She had the vague impression of someone putting the covers over her and switching the lights of the warehouse off. Sinking contentedly down into the pillows, she went to sleep.

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That morning, everyone in the hotel managed to be up by 10, even Tyson. While he was having breakfast, a man walked over with a cordless. "Sir," he said to Tyson, "there is a phone call for you."

"Hello?" said Tyson, taking the cordless.

"TYSON!" came a loud angry voice that everyone recognized as Diachi's. "WHY DID YOU LEAVE ON A CRUISE WITHOUT ME?"

"Diachi!" said Tyson. "Your dad said that you wouldn't come."

"WHY DID YOU LISTEN TO MY DAD? JUST YOU WAIT BUSTER!"

"OI!" said Tyson, raising his own voice too. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING BUSTER, MONKEY BOY?"

"JERK FACE!"

"STUPID LITTLE TWERP!"

At that moment, there a pause, and then Diachi's voice came a little less loud, "DAD SAYS I CAN FLY TO RUSSIA! I'M JOINING YOU GUYS TOMORROW! JUST YOU WAIT TYSON! JUST YOU WAIT!" and with that, he hung up.

Tyson handed back the cordless, wincing. "I think I ruptured my eardrum."

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A/N: I totally forgot about Diachi! I was watching beyblade the other day and it suddenly occured to me, "Hey, that little guy belongs to GRev too." so did you like the chapter? REVIEW!! 


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: thanks for your reviews...

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Daichi staggered out of the airplane, his face completely green. He walked towards Tyson and Max, who were waiting for him. As soon as he reached them, he flopped down onto the ground and said, "Oh! Solid ground again! No more flying high in the sky." Laying his cheek on the floor, he made weird crooning noises. Tyson sweatdropped. 

"Daichi!" he said. "You're embarrassing us. Get up!"

"I'm too sick to argue with you, Tyson," said Daichi.

"He does sound kind of tired," said Max.

They ended up carrying Daichi to the hotel, where he collapsed onto one of the beds and went to sleep.

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At the warehouse, Julia had just woken up. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and looked at her watch. It was ten thirty. Throwing off the covers she got up and looked around. The place seemed to be empty.

Looking out of the window, she could see that in daylight this was really quite a cheerful place. But there was no place better than home… or in this case the hotel. So she made her way towards the door. As she approached it, Dave walked in, nearly bumping into her. "Woah," he said, stepping back. "Careful."

The dream came rushing back to her. She went red and said, "Uh, listen, about last night…"

"I didn't make fun of you with the others or anything," said Dave.

"I know," said Julia. "Er… thanks."

"You're welcome," replied Dave uncertainly. He was about to walk on when Julia said, "Look, can you just tell Raul the ransom and let me get out of here?"

"I'm having fun," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well I'm not!" replied Julia. "And Raul's not. Can you please just stop playing games? I just don't get why you're committing crimes. From what I've seen of you, you seem pretty intelligent. Why don't you devote your time to something better?"

"Because, as my father used to say, I _can't_ be good at anything except petty crimes," replied Dave with unexpected bitterness. "I was never as good as my wonderful brother. _He _played football and rugby but I preferred games like cricket or baseball. I wasn't _tough_ like him."

Julia stared at him. He sighed. "Sorry," he said. "But I have an aptitude for _petty _crime. I'm a criminal at heart." He began to walk away, but first said over his shoulder, "I'll settle the ransom with Raul today."

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Raul stood at the end of the street and watched Dave approaching him with dislike. As he came within hearing range, Raul said, "Hey you! Are you afraid to show your face or do you enjoy walking around with a cloth over your face?"

Dave laughed in reply. "I'm not stupid enough to give you a means of recognizing me for the police."

"I'll recognize you anyway," said Raul. "You're inhumanly tall."

"I've decided a ransom," said Dave abruptly. "After much thinking I've decided to… let Julia go for free."

Raul's jaw literally dropped. "You've _what_?"

"Decided to let her go for free," repeated Dave. "I like your sister, she's a good person." Then he smirked. "Besides, she asked me nicely today."

Raul stared blankly at him. Shrugging, Dave said, "I don't need your money. I have everything I need or want. Meet me here in two hours. She'll be here."

"You promise?" said Raul disbelievingly.

"Yes," he replied. Then, with a wave, he turned around and disappeared around a corner.

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"You _what_?" said Julia, staring at Dave.

"You look just like Raul right now," said Dave with a grin, taking off his neck cloth. "Yes, you're free… at least you will be in two hours."

"_Thank you_!" exclaimed Julia. "What made you decide that?"

He shrugged. "I was thinking about what you said earlier. And it occurred to me that I should let go of all this childhood bitterness. And…" he seemed to be struggling for words. "My sincerest apologies to you for kidnapping you." He held out his hand. Julia shook it.

"Apology accepted," she replied.

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At the hotel Raul was nearly beside himself with excitement. He couldn't believe that Julia was finally coming home. He was also relieved because they had just been informed that whatever had been wrong with the cruise had now been fixed and they were starting out tomorrow.

He announced to the whole room in general (which was full of people he didn't know):" My sister's coming back today!"

An old man in the corner smiled benignly at him and muttered, "Young boys today." Others merely smiled or looked at him with confused expressions. Raul grinned back at them, oblivious to the act that he was being incredibly weird. Then, with a wave of his hand, he walked out of the room.

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A/N: My least favourite chapter sofar. but review anyway XP 


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: FINALLY another chapter!

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"Come along," said Dave, leading Julia towards the usual meeting place. For once, he had not blindfolded her. She looked around disbelievingly. "You made my poor brother come to this locality?" she said.

"And what's wrong with it?" questioned Dave, raising his green eyebrows, surveying the muddy street. "Well, sure, it's not exactly clean but otherwise…."

"Are you kidding?" she exclaimed. "Raul would have been horrified!"

Dave laughed and then, looking towards his left, said, "He doesn't look too horrified."

Julia looked towards the left and saw her brother walking with a huge grin on his face. "JULIA!" he yelled excitedly. Behind him walked the Blitzkrieg boys. They, of course, had nothing resembling a grin on their faces. They just looked bored and faintly annoyed.

Raul ran forward to hug his sister. Dave looked on with an amused smile. Julia turned to him and said, "Thanks for everything."

"Any time," he replied. Julia hugged him before she and Raul walked off behind the Blitzkrieg boys.

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Back in the hotel, there was a general air of cheerfulness. Their team member was back and they were to board the cruise again tomorrow. Julia, Mariah, Hilary, Matilda, Miriam and Salima were gathered in their suite of rooms, talking animatedly about the kidnapping.

"So you're saying this Dave guy," said Mariah in a disbelieving voice "was actually nice to you?"

"He was very polite," shrugged Julia. "And he did let me go without a ransom."

"So you're not going to report him to the police?" asked Matilda from the bed, where she was sprawled, trying to read a magazine. Hilary suddenly snatched the magazine out of her hands and flipped through the pages. Matilda threw a pillow at Hilary but Hilary ducked. The pillow sailed over her head and hit Miriam, who was leaning her head against the bedpost in sitting on the ground, smack in the face. Salima, who was reclining on a settee, laughed. Just as Miriam picked the pillow up to retaliate, the room went black. There was a dull thud as the pillow Miriam tossed hit the door.

"What the hell?" exclaimed Mariah, standing up. She couldn't see a thing. She fumbled around, trying to find the door, tripping over Julia as she went. "Oops, sorry," she whispered, helping her up. Both of them made their way to the door.

"Do you want to come," Julia asked the others, opening the door. Outside, the corridor was just as black as the room. Heavy curtains hanging at the windows were preventing any moonlight from getting in.

"Of course!" they exclaimed in unison, groping their way towards the door. All of them left the room and started walking silently. After a while, they unknowingly split, going separate ways.

Julia staggered blindly down the corridor, bumping into walls as she went. She was feeling extremely nervous. Suddenly she walked bang into someone else. She stepped back. "Who's there?" she said, a little freaked out.

"Watch where you're going," came Tala's voice.

"Oh, _Tala_!" she exclaimed in relief. "Gosh, you scared me."

"Strange," came Tala's voice from right beside her, making her jump. "I generally only have that effect on Ian."

Julia laughed and started walking again. "Any idea what's going on?"

"It's a power blackout," he replied, brushing aside a bit of curtain from a window. There was a fierce storm raging outside; clouds were covering the moon and there was only a faint light from the few stars they could see. As he let the curtain fall back in place, he said, "Because of the storm."

Meanwhile, Hilary was walking along a different corridor. Suddenly, there was a flash of light which stayed only for a second. But it stayed long enough to see the silhouette of a tall person with something glinting in his hand. Was it a gun? A knife? Unnerved by her own imagination, Hilary started walking faster. Apparently, the person behind her did so too. She could hear him breathe as he came closer and closer. The flashlight was flicked on and off one more time and then suddenly someone seized her around the waist, the other hand coming up to cover her mouth. A familiar voice breathed in her ear, "Boo!"

"Tyson!" she screeched, as he removed his hand from over her mouth. All she got in reply was mirthful laughter. She swatted at the arm around her waist. "You jerk!" she said, struggling in vain. "Will you let go of me?"

"Nope," replied Tyson. She could practically hear the grin in his voice. "Don't you eat? You're like a stick." He started walking again, pulling Hilary with him.

While this was going on, Miriam was going through the same ordeal with Max. Too bad that Tyson and Max were the only two people from the G-Rev who had torches. Max, however, didn't have the courage to grab her, therefore he didn't get nearly as good results.

Mariah, Matilda and Salima had prudently kept talking, so they were still together. Suddenly, Salima lost her footing and tumbled down a flight of stairs, landing in a crumpled heap at the bottom. She was now on the third floor.

"Salima," called Matilda. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she called back. "I think I twisted my ankle, though. Darn stairs!"

A voice beside her made her jump in surprise. It was Enrique. "Darn stairs is right!"

Salima stifled a giggle. "Enrique?" she said. "You too?"

"Yeah," came the grumpy response. At that moment, they heard two more voices: Tala and Julia.

"Who fell?" asked Julia.

"Enrique and Salima," replied Mariah, laughing. "For all we know, there might be someone else down there too!"

"Is anything broken?" called Tala.

"No, we're all fine," said Enrique.

"Then all we can do is wait for the power to come back," Matilda spoke up, sitting down beside the stairs.

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A/N: I think it was way better than last chapter anyway. so what did you guys think? By the way, i know there are more than like two people reading this and it wouldn't kill you guys to review:p 


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Yay, another short chapter.

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Tyson illuminated his path with a torch. Hilary was rather relieved that he had one. They were looking for the others at that moment so that there would be a little less confusion.

Finally, they came upon a comical scene. Mariah was leaning on the railing of the stairs, staring down at Salima and Enrique, who were sitting cross legged at the bottom of the stairs. Tala was standing slightly apart from the others, while Julia was half way down the stairs. She had tentatively been groping her way down, and had twice come close to falling. As the warm beam of light washed over the scene, she gave a triumphant exclamation and ran down the last few steps.

"Hey, guys, there's a power blackout," said Tyson, stating the obvious.

"No, really?" replied Mariah, rolling her eyes. Suddenly, they were interrupted by Kevin's voice. "I see liiiiiiight!" he said dramatically, stumbling into the circle of light. Then, blinking, "Hi guys."

Mariah rolled her eyes yet again. Tyson was, by now, playing with the flashlight, waving it around and flicking it on and off. This way, the battery was going to wear out.

"Give me the torch, Tyson," said Tala. "It's our only source of light and it's going to wear out."

"NO!" said Tyson, a little louder than he needed to. "You can't have it!" Saying this, he bolted. The light slowly receded down the hallway until they were left in darkness again.

"Oh, perfect," said Julia, who had been helping Enrique and Salima. "Will someone go after him?"

"And risk falling down another flight of stairs?" said Hilary. "No thanks. Nice going, Tala."

"Not my fault," he replied. Then, he groaned and said, "Why did I have to get stuck amongst girls?"

"We resent that!" said Mariah.

"Hey, I'm a guy too!" came Enrique's voice, and then a loud, "Ouch!"

"You don't count," said Tala shortly. At that moment, the lights flickered on and off. There was some fluctuation for a little while and then suddenly the whole building was lit up again. Tyson, Kevin and Enrique let out a whoop of happiness. Tyson and Kevin started a war dance of sorts.

Julia pulled Enrique and Salima up. Enrique howled and sat back down, and Salima winced, shifting all her weight to her left foot. "What's wrong?" said Julia, concerned.

"I think I fractured my ankle," said Enrique from the floor, where he was squirming, holding his foot. By this time, Mariah had joined them, and was kneeling beside Salima.

"It's nothing," Salima said. "I think I just twisted it. I just need some rest."

Mariah helped Salima up the stairs and took her to the room. Enrique was still whining on the floor. Julia could see that it was something more serious than a twisted or sprained ankle. "Someone come down here," she called. "Help me lift him up; we need to take him to a doctor or something."

Tala joined Julia and Enrique. "Here, you take his legs and I'll take his arms," said Tala, preparing to lift the injured blond. Julia nodded and lifted up his legs, being careful not to hurt the injured one. Tala lifted him by the shoulders and they staggered upstairs with him.

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There was only half an hour left to board the cruise. Everyone had done their packing and they were sitting outside in the garden of the hotel. It had snowed light night but now the sun was shining and it was very pleasant outside.

Robert walked out into the garden carrying two suitcases: his own and Enrique's. "You're all packed," he said to his friend. Enrique had been taken to a nearby clinic and it turned out his ankle was broken. It was done up in a cast now and he used a pair of crutches to walk. Needless to say, he couldn't walk.

Mariah had packed for Salima but refused flat out to carry the suitcases. Salima had sprained her ankle. "Ask one of the guys," she said calmly. "I'm staggering under the weight of my own suitcase too."

"I'll carry it," said Ray from behind them.

"Thank you!" said Salima emphatically, slinging an arm around Mariah's shoulder and getting up. Ray hoisted her suitcase up with an amused smile. The captain of the cruise, who had also been staying at the hotel, announced through his megaphone that it was time to board. They started walking towards the ship.

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"Is that it?" said Daichi, staring wide-eyed at the huge streamlined beauty. "Oh man, this is even worse than that airplane!"

Tyson sighed and grabbed him by the collar. "You're getting on," he said, dragging him up. Soon, all the passengers had boarded. After one final look at Russia, they were off.

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A/N: So they're finally back on the cruise. by the way, isthere anything in particular you guys want me to write about? 


	13. Chapter 13

A?N: I APOLOGIZE FOR THE WAIT! it's been like forever since i updated. well, i apologize for the limited vocabulary I've used. i'd like you to know that my brain isn't that small :D . plus, dont hate me because i dont know how to spell Ferrerro Roche!!!

* * *

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HIL!" exclaimed Tyson loudly, prodding Hilary to wake her up. She fell out of bed with a yelp, completely disoriented. She had no idea what was going on.

"Oh…my…gosh…" she said, scrambling to her feet. "You SCARED me, Tyson!" She whacked him upside the head.

"Hey," he said, rubbing his head. "Is that how you thank me for getting you _this_?"

'_This' _was a medium-sized rectangular box wrapped with pink paper. Taking it from Tyson, Hilary sat on the edge of the bed and carefully unwrapped it. There was a box of her favourite kind of chocolates inside: Ferrero Roche. Under the box of chocolates, there was a small silver and black frame with a picture of Kenny, Tyson, Kai, Max, Ray and herself. It was before the second world championships. Everyone looked happy and carefree (with the exception of Kai). With a smile, Hilary took it out. To her surprise, there was yet another frame underneath. It was identical in design to the other one, only it was golden and orange. In this one, Tyson was shielding himself with his arms from Hilary, who had his baseball cap in her hand and was swatting at him with it. Max was in the process of bumping into Ray, who had a surprised look on his face. Kenny was waving his arms about in the air, looking completely freaked out. Kai was looking at all of them contemptuously. Hilary laughed and placed the frame on the bed beside her. Finally, there was a card in which Tyson had written with his untidy scrawl, "Hope you like the gift. The pictures are from back when you were the 'wicked witch' of the 8th grade. Have a great birthday, o witch!"

She looked at Tyson, who was standing in front of her with an anxious look on his face. "Do you like it?" he said.

Getting up, she hugged him. "I love it, Tyson," she said to the surprised boy. "It's the best gift I ever got."

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When Hilary entered the living room where everyone usually gathered, it was completely dark. Switching the light on, she was, for the second time that day, almost deafened with the roar of "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HILARY!" Everyone was there. Admittedly, they hadn't _all_ shouted but most of them hadn't and those who hadn't (Kai and the Blitzkrieg boys) couldn't be expected to.

In the middle of the room, they had set up a table with a cake on it. There were seventeen candles crowning it. Miguel had a video camera in his hand.

"Come on, blow out the candles!" exclaimed Raul and Julia in unison, each taking one arm and pulling her towards the table. With a grin, Hilary cut the cake. Before she knew what was happening, Tyson had smeared it all over her face and was now laughing his head off at her. Miguel was closing up on her face, recording her horrified expression.

The day ended in fun and games. There had been a huge food fight initiated by Tyson but apart from that, there hadn't been too much of a mess made.

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At about 11 at night, a steward rapped at Raul's cabin door. He shared a cabin with Claude, Miguel and Aaron. He was for some reason still awake, lying on his upper bunk staring at the ceiling, when he heard the knock. Jumping off his bed he opened the door. Stepping out, he closed it behind him so that the others wouldn't be woken up, and then turned to the steward.

"What's wrong?" he said, looking concerned.

"There's a telegraph for Raul and Julia," said the steward. "I take it you're Raul?"

"Yeah," said Raul curiously. "I'll go and get Julia. Where do I go to get the telegraph?"

"The radio room," said the Steward gravely. Raul nodded and went to Julia, Hilary, Mariah and Matilda's cabin. He knocked on it lightly; sure that Julia would be awake too. Sure enough, his twin opened the door in a few seconds. She was wearing a shawl around her shoulders to protect her from the cold.

"We have a telegram," he said. "I wonder who could have sent it?"

"Let's go find out," said Julia cheerfully. They made their way to the small radio room on deck and asked the man about the telegraph.

"Right," said the man. "It says, 'Mother Inka got into accident. Is now in a coma. Greg.'"

The twins stood rooted to the spot. Mother Inka! The kindly old woman who had taken them into the circus after they were orphaned and who had been a like a mother to them ever since, in a coma!

Her real name wasn't Inka. It was Ingrid but Raul and Julia had been toddlers when they were taken in by her so they had begun to call her mother Inka and everybody had adopted the nickname. Greg was Mother Inka's nephew.

Tears gathered in Julia's eyes. Raul squeezed her hand, too shocked to speak. The man looked at them sympathetically.

"Relative?" he said. Julia nodded numbly. Raul said in a dry, raspy voice, "Yes… our mother."

"Bad luck," said the man.

Julia turned around and left the room. Raul followed a few steps behind but turned off in another direction altogether soon. He needed to be alone, and so did his sister.

Julia saw the familiar figure of Tala standing at the railing. Keeping her face down, she pushed past him. He recognized her at once and said, "What's going on?" in a sharp voice.

Ignoring him, she would have walked on but he caught her hand. Curiosity had got the better of him as he asked, "What's wrong?"

Not trusting herself to speak, Julia shook her head, looking at the ground. She gave her hand a little tug but he didn't let go. "Look at me," he commanded, putting a finger under her chin and forcing her to comply. He was shocked to see her face. It was deathly white and her green eyes shone with tears.

"What's wrong?" he softly repeated himself, letting go of her hand.

"M-mother Inka…" she said in a thick voice, inwardly cursing the lump in her throat. Gulping, she said "It's nothing." She began to walk away. Tala watched her leave.

"What was that all about?" asked Kai, coming up from behind Tala. His eyes were also on Julia as she got further and further away.

"I'm not sure," Tala said. "I guess I was just really curious."

Kai looked at Tala with cold, unemotional eyes. "And did you find out what you wanted to know?"

"She looked like she was going to cry," said Tala impassively. "So I let her go."

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A/N: Pleaseplease review. i had NO idea where mother Inka came from btw . lol 


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Here's the next chapter. I apologize for the wait; I hope I haven't lost any reviewers!

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Next morning, Raul and Julia had both gotten some 'alone' time— and then they had also talked to the Barthezes and they were marginally more cheerful.

It was 6:30 a.m. and the six of them were sitting in the dining room. Since it was so early, there was nobody else there. There was a coffee-maker on the highly polished counter lining one side of the room. At the moment, Matilda was busy making coffee for everyone.

Raul rested his forehead on the cold table top and said in a muffled voice, "People recover from comas…"

"Yep," said Miguel emphatically, his eyelids drooping a little bit. Raul had showed up in the room at 1 in the morning and forced them all to wake up and listen to his angry rant about how it was always the nicest people who got hurt.

"Tala did…" said Claude, shooting a longing look at Matilda, who was still making the coffee. "Hurry up, Matilda!" he called.

"It'll be here in a minute!" replied Matilda.

Without raising his head, Raul nudged Julia with his elbow. She was in the same position as he was. "You asleep?"

"I was…" she replied in a dull voice. "Not any more, though. Ugh, I need to dunk my head in cold water or something."

Hey, I could help you with that," teased Aaron, reaching for a nearby jug of ice-cold water.

"NO!" she exclaimed, getting into an upright position. "Okay, okay, I'm up."

At that moment, Matilda walked up with a jug of coffee. Her eyes had black circles around them because of the lack of sleep. Sitting down, she absent mindedly began to put salt into her cup. Raul, who had finally raised his head to absent-mindedly sip some of the black liquid, grabbed her wrist and forced it down with something resembling a grin on his face.

"Oops…" she murmured, going scarlet.

"I bet it tastes disgusting now," said Raul, pushing his own cup towards her. "Here, take this." He took Matilda's cup and had a bit. Pulling a face, he looked at the cup for a few seconds, shrugged, and kept on drinking. "At least it has caffeine."

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Salima stretched and sat up. Looking at the clock, she saw it was 8:30 in the morning. There was probably nobody awake. She looked over to the other side of the cabin, where Miriam was still asleep on the top bunk. The cabins were supposed to be for four people each, but the two others who were supposed to share with them were getting on at the next stop.

Getting up, she pulled on a sweater and made her way towards the dining room, but on the way there, she saw a familiar white-clad figure disappearing around a corner. She changed her course, following him curiously. Turning the corner, she saw him entering a small room that seemed to be for storage. She walked up to the door and leaned against the frame.

Ray was bending over something. He had a dish in one hand. As Salima watched, he lowered it to the ground and whistled softly. To her surprise, an adorable little puppy came out. It had big brown eyes and pointed ears. Its coat was black with a white patch over one eye. Ray gently stroked its back as it lapped up half of the milk inside and then sat down with a contented little grunt.

"A puppy?" said Salima, startling Ray, who hastily got to his feet, stepping on the dish and upsetting the contents. The puppy looked at him reproachfully, wiggling its ears back and forth.

"Uh, puppy?" said Ray, laughing nervously, nudging the puppy gently with his foot behind a box. Pets weren't allowed on the ship. "What puppy? There's no puppy."

"Oh, honestly, Ray," said Salima, walking up to him with a laugh. "I suppose you were drinking that milk yourself?"

"I like milk," said Ray defensively. At that moment, the little animal came trotting back into view. Jumping eagerly at Ray, it lost its balance and fell back, looking up at Salima with a bemused expression. Abandoning his act, Ray looked at Salima, raising an eyebrow. "You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

"No… of course not," replied Salima, moving forward towards the puppy to pet it. The animal ran at full speed towards her and started capering around her feet, causing her to lose balance too, and fall onto the ground. It jumped onto her and began sniffing her face. Ray looked at her and laughed. She tried to nudge the pup off but it sank its teeth into her sleeve and stayed there.

"No!" remonstrated Ray, pulling it off and offering Salima his hand. Taking it, she hoisted herself up, perhaps a tad too energetically, because she bumped into him. Hard. He staggered back a few steps before stabilizing himself and Salima too. She giggled before stepping away. "Sorry," she said. "Want to go get some breakfast?"

"Sure," he replied, picking up the puppy and putting it into an empty box with a blanket. "Let's go."

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Later on in the afternoon, everyone had found out about mother Inka and expressed their sorrow to the twins. They also found out that they were going to stop at a port the very next day.

Raul flipped open his phone and started dialing a number. "Who're you calling?" asked Julia.

"Greg," he replied. Greg was mother Inka's nephew, like a brother to them. Raul and Julia both had international cell phones, seeing as they used to travel all the time and it was more convenient than getting a new number every time they moved.

"Hey Greg," said Raul. "We got your telegram."

_'Raul! How did you two take it?' _came the nineteen-year-old's voice over the phone.

"Well… okay, I guess. Some friends helped us out."

_'That reminds me, where is your next stop?'_

Raul named the stop after a slight pause.

_'That's excellent news! The circus will be there day after tomorrow. We could meet you. If you'll believe me, we've actually hired an ambulance and trained nurse to look after mother Inka.' _He laughed.

"No, that's not good news," said Julia, snatching the phone from her brother (She had been listening carefully to the conversation by putting her ear to the other end of the phone) "We'll leave the port day after tomorrow morning."

There was a long pause. _'Well, can't you arrange something? Like, you stay behind this time, find out when and where the ship stops next, and fly there beforehand?'_

"That's a great idea, actually!" said Julia. "We'll talk over it and tell you later. Bye." She switched it off and handed it to Raul.

"How could you agree to that?" said Raul, looking freaked out. "We might miss the cruise next time too!"

"I'm sure someone will keep in touch with us and keep us notified." Turning around, she looked around the crowded room. Seemed that everyone was there. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she shouted, "Anyone here have an international cell?"

"I do," said Tala from right behind her. She jumped, startled. "Okay," she said. "Save this number," she narrated him Raul's cell phone number. He obediently saved it and then, scrutinizing her, said, "And why do I need this?"

"Well," she said, shifting uncomfortably. "Raul and I are going to stay back tomorrow and we need you to tell us when and where the next stop will be."

Tala unquestioningly nodded and sauntered away.

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A/N: I know, abrupt ending but please do review…


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Here I am with another chapter ALREADY! –gasp- Many thanks to my newest reviewer, Anshu, and also to RedWheeler and Desastrus for being so regular in their reviews.

On with it:

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The stop had been fairly uneventful; the ship stopped, was refueled, stocked up on supplies, and set sail again, leaving Julia, Raul, and the Barthezes behind. Julia and Raul had done everything in their power to convince the Barthezes not to go through the trouble of staying back just for them, but in the end they had relented. It was always nice to have friends around.

They had spent the day in a hotel, restlessly counting down the hours until the circus would arrive. They phoned Greg at regular intervals… and now they were finally going to reach. Their circus was an old-fashioned one and they used to travel by road in caravans and trucks. No matter how long it took. The group of teenagers had gone to the outskirts of the city, where they were supposed to be arriving, and were now waiting impatiently for the circus to arrive.

Raul was leaning against a tree, eyes closed, and absent-mindedly humming a carnival tune. All five of his companions were staring at him, amused. When he opened his eyes and realized he had an audience, he went red and glared back at them. "What?" he said aggressively. But at that moment, he heard a familiar noise behind him. Twirling on the spot, he saw a large decorated truck driving towards them slowly. Behind it stretched a long line of caravans and cages with animals.

The truck suddenly stopped and a nineteen year old with spiky black hair jumped out. It was still a kilometer or so away from the group but the boy sprinted across as if was nothing, in about five minutes.

"Raul! Julia!" he said when he reached them, out of breath. "Long time no see!"

"Yeah," replied Raul with a grin. After giving both of them a brief, one armed hug, he turned to the other four. Extending his hand to Miguel, who was standing closest to him, he said, "Hi. I'm Greg."

"I'm Miguel," replied Miguel, shaking his hand. Then, turning around and pointing to each of the others in turn, he said, "This is Matilda, Claude and Aaron."

"Pleased to meet you," he said, putting two fingers to his forehead in an informal mock-salute.

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Miriam looked over the top of her magazine at Max, who was sitting right in front of her and had been constantly staring at her for the past ten minutes. She looked straight into his blue eyes and held his gaze, but he didn't even blink, the corners of his lips curling upwards into a grin. Sighing, she snapped the magazine shut.

"Why are you staring?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Most of my friends think it's annoying when I do that," commented Max, not answering her question.

"I think so too," she replied, rolling her eyes. "And exactly why do you want to annoy me?"

"Because I'm bored," said Max, his gaze not wavering.

She got up, annoyed. "Well I don't care."

"Oh, come _on_," whined Max, getting up too. "Maybe we could do something?"

"Yeah?" scoffed Miriam, beginning to walk away. "Like what?" Irritated by the fact that Max was now following her, she left the room at a brisk walk, banging the door shut. Or at least that's what she _tried_ to do. Instead, the metal of the door made contact with Max's nose. Miriam turned around at the sound of his exclamation. He was standing there with his hand clasped over his bleeding nose, letting out a string of swearwords that Miriam didn't even know existed.

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "Sorry, sorry, _sorry_!" She rushed to him, craning her neck to see who else was sitting in the room. There was only Kai, sitting in the corner. He directed an amused smirk in her direction before picking up a book and starting to read it.

Muttering something about unhelpful Russians, she pulled Max back into the room and made him lie down on the sofa. "Now look up," she instructed. "It'll stop the bleeding."

"Can I have some ice?" said Max in a thick voice.

"First get your hand off your nose," she said, extending one hand towards him to try and pry his fingers away.

"Gah!" he exclaimed, sitting up. "Stay away from me!"

"Oh, come on!" said Miriam, rolling her eyes. "Don't be a baby. Lie down and I'll get you some ice… although it doesn't really need ice but whatever…"

She left the room at a run, going towards the kitchen. Max stubbornly folded his arms and stayed bolt upright.

"It's a good idea to do what she said," Kai spoke up from his corner. "It'll stop the bleeding."

"I know," said Max, gingerly feeling the bridge of his nose, and easing himself back down.

"And you don't really need ice, like she said," said Kai.

"I know," replied Max from the armrest of the sofa.

"And if you like her you should just tell her," said Kai, his smirk widening.

"I know…" replied Max, and then, realizing what Kai had just said, and worse, what he had said in reply, sat up again. "HEY! I didn't mean that! What I meant was, I don't like her! I mean, I do like her, but as a friend, not like that… as in…" he groaned, sinking back down. "You suck, you know that?"

"I know," said Kai mockingly, returning to his book.

"It's not like I was _staring_ staring at her, I was just trying to annoy her," babbled Max. "It didn't mean anything." He craned his neck to look at Kai. "Right, Kai? It didn't mean anything."

"First sign: denial," said Kai, not looking up. He was not just teasing his naïve American friend, although that was mostly the reason. No, he also meant some of it.

Max mumbled something under his breath, trailing off to an unintelligible stream of words.

"What are you babbling about?" asked Miriam, appearing at the doorway holding an icepack.

"Nothing," replied Max shortly. "And I _like_ to annoy people."

"I noticed," said Miriam dryly, sitting on the edge of the sofa and giving him the pack. "Now be quiet."

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That night, Salima and Miriam met their new cabin-mates at last. And they were very disappointed indeed. There were no two more unfriendly girls anywhere in the world.

They entered the cabin late at night, around 11:00. One had a thick waist-length golden braid and blue eyes, and the other one had wild-looking shoulder length navy blue hair and black eyes. They merely shot contemptuous glances at Salima and Miriam, who were lounging on their respective bunks, reading, and went to sit on their own bunks. The navy-haired one was on the top bunk and the golden-braided one on the bottom.

Salima shot them a look before coughing politely and saying, "Hi."

The navy haired girl looked up briefly. "Hi."

"Er… I'm Salima and this is Miriam."

"I see," she replied. Then, suddenly realizing she was expected to give an introduction too, she said, "I'm Mona Howlett…"

"And I'm Laura Gardner…" said the golden braided one. "It's a… _pleasure_ to meet you." Her emphasis on the word pleasure clearly showed she didn't mean it.

This was going to be a long night.

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A/N: I know it was a really abrupt ending but whatever… in the next chapter you'll probably find out more about mother Inka. REVIEW!


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Yay! I'm back. This chapter was particularly fun to write for some reason.

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Mona plopped herself down on the bed. Salima looked at her inquiringly. That morning, Mona had left the cabin along with Laura after announcing that they weren't going to come back to the 'stuffy old cabin' until night. Mona had a slight Scottish lilt in her accent, whereas Laura was British.

"I made a total fool of myself," Mona said dully, in explanation. "Did you know that the entire beyblading team, the G-Revolution is on this cruise?"

"Yes, I do know, actually," said Salima.

"Talk about good luck, eh?" said Mona. "Laura and I watched all the tournaments since we were little…… she's my cousin, see…. And who should I run into but Ray? Och, he's hot…"

For some reason, Salima felt angry as Mona went on rambling. "And I started stuttering like an idiot… I wonder what he thinks of me now. And then, to make it worse, I ran into…"

"I have to go," said Salima, cutting her short. She left the room, Mona still muttering to herself about humiliation. As she walked down the corridor, her anger began to ebb away, replaced by a sense of shame and embarrassment. Why was she acting so rude all of a sudden? Sure, she detested the two new girls but that was no reason to be _rude_, surely? Unless it wasn't rudeness, it was… jealousy?

Shaking her head, furious at herself for even thinking such a ridiculous thought, she went on down the passage, trying to clear her mind.

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Hilary tottered into the almost empty room with a pile of books. Tyson sprang forward to take them from her hands. Himself staggering under their weight, he set them down on the nearest table.

"What are you doing?" he said cautiously. The last time he'd said anything negative about her books she'd trashed his comic collection with a stick. Keeping that disturbing image in mind, he hurriedly added, "Not that I have anything against them, there are just a lot of them is all I'm saying…"

Hilary rolled her eyes. "There are no comics for me to attack over here," she reminded him. "Anyway, I'm studying for my entry test… we're going to start college next year, remember?"

"Oh…" Tyson faltered. "Oh yeah… that sucks…"

"No, Tyson, it does not suck," she said impatiently, sitting down. "I know, why don't you study with me?"

"What are you, crazy?" laughed Tyson. Then, seeing the murderous glare she shot in his direction he hastily added, "Kidding, kidding. You know I didn't mean that."

"Sometimes I seriously doubt it," she said, raising an eyebrow and smiling at him. "So what do you say?"

"Do I _have _a choice?" replied Tyson, sitting down beside her. She chuckled before starting.

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Raul and Julia had paid several visits to mother Inka already. She had always been very lively despite the fact that she was getting older and thinner everyday… it was shocking to see her lying still on a bed, looking completely worn out.

Today was no different. The two of them, along with Greg, were sitting beside the bed quietly. The other four refused to come in, saying they wouldn't want to intrude on a family moment. So they were waiting patiently outside.

"I think we should go now," said Greg. "We've been sitting here for ages, the others must be bored by now…" Getting up, he smiled and nodded at the nurse, who was hovering in front of the door. She began to open it, but a slight movement from mother Inka diverted her interest. She rushed to the bedside, pushing by the three people already crowding around.

As they stared at mother Inka, her eyes fluttered slightly. She opened them and looked at them all blearily, without any signs of recognition. Then she closed them again and, with a little sigh, turned onto her side, and went to sleep.

They simply stood there, staring. She was showing distinct signs of recovering.

"M-mother?" stammered Greg, gingerly touching her shoulder. "Mother! Wake up!"

Her eyes opened again and she said in a tired voice, "Greg? What happened after the car… it crashed and then… what happened?"

Greg turned away, relief overpowering him. Raul stepped forward. She made an effort to sit up and the nurse rushed forward to prop her up with some pillows. "It's all okay now, mother…" he said, a smile slowly spreading over his face. Finally, the nurse spoke up. "I think she needs her rest," she said timidly.

Julia nodded. "We'll see you soon, mother," she said, turning around. She stepped out first, managing to keep calm despite the joy welling up inside her. Greg stepped out after her, his gait jaunty and a grin on his face. Finally, Raul stepped out…. or erupted, which was a much more appropriate word for it… with a whoop of happiness, ran over to the four who were waiting patiently for the news, and grabbed Matilda, twirling her around and around until they were both breathless and dizzy.

As the initial euphoria began to ebb away, he realized that, for the second time since they'd gotten off the cruise, he had an extremely amused audience. He jumped away from Matilda as if he'd been scalded.

"Yeah, whatever," he spat, stalking off.

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That night, there was a big celebration. They lit a bonfire and everybody in the circus gathered together to hear the happy news firsthand. Greg had taken out his guitar, as had several other people. There was singing and dancing and overall, a sense of well-being pervaded the entire camp.

Julia sat down beside Greg and looked at him admiringly. There were two things he loved: music and horses. He had meant to be a musician but mother Inka had convinced him to stay and manage the circus' horses. And so far, he didn't seem to have too many regrets.

Suddenly, the ring tone of Raul's cell phone interrupted her thoughts. Glancing down, she saw he had carelessly left it on the ground, and was now on the other side of the field, mingling with some old friends. Shaking her head, she picked it up. "Hello?" she said.

"Hello, who is this?" came a voice she could barely here over Greg's guitar. Pressing a hand over her other ear, she said, "Hold on." Making her way through the bunch of people, she stepped into Greg's caravan, slamming the door shut.

"Hello?" she repeated, grateful of the silence that surrounded her.

"I'm guessing this isn't Raul," said a cold voice.

"T-Tala?" said Julia, her face beginning to turn a bright shade of red. She cursed herself silently, wondering why that always happened when she talked to him.

"Yes…" his voice trailed off for a second. Then, "Do you have a pen and paper close by?"

"Hold on…" she said, looking around. Noticing a notebook and pen on a nearby shelf, she dashed to it. "Yeah?"

"Write down the name and date of the ship's next stop." He named them and she scribbled them down.

"Uh… thanks."

There was a slight pause. "No problem." Back on the cruise, Tala hesitated a bit before asking, "How… is your mother?"

"She recovered today."

"Ah… well… congratulations…" Without any further words, he ended the call.

Julia put the phone on the shelf and went back outside. Greg had stopped playing out of sheer exhaustion and was now leaning back, watching the celebrations. Miguel was sitting beside him.

Julia went and sat beside them, picking up a bottle of water.

"Who was it?" asked Greg.

"Tala," said Julia, taking a swig of water. Her face was still pretty red.

"You're blushing as if he proposed to you," said Greg with a sly grin.

Julia started choking, staring at Greg in surprise. Miguel thumped her on the back. When the coughing finally subsided, she said, "What do you mean?"

"Like this," said Miguel, grinning. He knelt down before Julia and, taking her hand, said, "Julia Fernandez, will you—"

"Dude, are you proposing to my sister?" asked Raul, sauntering over to them.

"Nah," said Miguel, unceremoniously dropping Julia's hand and standing up. "Just showing her how it's done…"

Greg looked from a laughing Raul to a blushing Julia and smiled, shaking his head. It was great having them back.

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A/N: please review... 


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Yay! I'm back with another update. I'm sorry for the long wait.

* * *

Max entered the room, looking around uncomfortably. He could see that everybody in it was absorbed in his or her own activities. He was very excited, as that evening, the six who had left them were returning. But apart from that, he had been doing some thinking about what Kai had said to him, and about the little nosebleed-incident. And he had come to two conclusions; one: never walk into or out of a room behind Miriam, and two: there was some truth in what Kai had said. And being a boy of instant decision, he told himself to face the music and get out of this denial phase.

Making his way to where Miriam was lounging, her eyes closed, he sat down beside her and said into her ear, "Everybody's coming home today!"

Miriam shot up with a yelp. "What the hell, Max?!" she exclaimed, sinking back down when she saw who it was. "I was trying to get some sleep."

"Why? It's almost lunchtime," said Max with a grin.

"I couldn't sleep a wink last night," she sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Insomnia, on top of everything! Why me?" She groaned.

"Insomnia! Sounds bad," said Max, looking concerned. He hesitated for a moment, and then put an arm around her shoulders. "Try to get comfortable. Maybe then you can go to sleep."

She was too tired even to protest. Besides, she felt surprisingly relaxed. Resting her head on his shoulder, she managed to mutter, "Thanks, Max…" before dropping off.

Max looked around, trying not to act too conspicuous. And then, he was filled with a sudden dread. Was that Kai entering the room? Why was it that Kai always had to catch him at moments like this? He buried his face into a cushion trying to hide himself from the Russian, but it was no use.

"Phase two:…" began Kai with a grin… or at least, as close to a grin as he could get, but Max interrupted hastily.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up," he chanted, putting his free hand on one ear. "How would you like it if I teased you about… about… about…"

"You figure out who, and then ask me," said Kai smoothly, walking to the opposite side of the room.

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The oversized sunglasses perched precariously on Raul's nose. He had seen them at the market and they had made him laugh so much that he ended up buying them. Now he was shooting people what he himself had dubbed his 'long, narrow look' by lowering his glasses with his finger and raising his eyebrow.

In fact, he was shooting a long narrow look at his twin when the ship finally drew into port. "Finally!" he exclaimed. "It's an hour late. The owner of that ship really needs one of my looks."

Everyone rolled their eyes and chuckled. They had been waiting at the port with their suitcases clustered around them for quite a long time. It wasn't very crowded; not many people were there at the moment. However, they _had_ spotted someone they knew: Violet. She was standing alone, leaning against her suitcase. Since they didn't know her that well, they hadn't really greeted her, though they did wonder why and when she had got off the cruise.

At that moment, Miguel noticed Tyson standing at the railing, waving madly. He started waving back, nudging the others and pointing. Raul jumped, and then started waving back like a madman, his glasses dangling on one ear.

"I think the long wait has messed with his brain," said Matilda, a slight twitch of her lips belying her grave expression.

"Why would you say a thing like that, _Matty_?" asked Raul, pouting and pushing his glasses back on. He purposely used the nickname just to annoy her. She glared at him before stating, "Because it's true."

"I guess I'll have to change your mind," replied Raul with a sly grin. Matilda eyed him dubiously; his way of changing her mind was always different, but never sane. She yelped and retreated behind Aaron as he suddenly lunged at her.

"Oh, stop flirting," said Aaron, rolling his eyes. "Save it for when we're done boarding."

They both bellowed in unison, "WE'RE NOT—" but they were drowned by a louder yell from Tyson. Apparently, the ship had let the gangplank down and Tyson was coming bounding toward them.

"Nice glasses, man!" he said, half joking, half serious, shaking everyone's hand. "So, can I help carry the luggage?"

"Yeah, sure," said Claude, dumping his suitcase into his arms.

"I was talking to the girls," said Tyson, grinning and dropping the suitcase.

"Oh, that's nice of you," said Julia. "You can carry mine. I'm sure Raul will carry Matilda's."

"Yup," agreed Raul. "Matty's suitcase can go with me." He ignored the dirty look being given to him by the pink haired girl.

"You'll probably fall if you try to lift two at the same time," Miguel spoke up with a smirk. Mother Inka had been shocked at how thin Raul was. She maintained that it was alright for Julia to be thin because she was a girl, but Raul was altogether too 'elfin'. She had been feeding him all sorts of delicacies as soon as the nurse let her start. However, the boy never seemed to get fat. He remained as thin and pale as ever, much to mother Inka's disappointment.

Raul looked injured, and lifted both his own and Matilda's suitcases to prove Claude wrong. "See?" he wheezed. "I can do it." He set off determinedly towards the gangplank and everyone else followed.

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Julia walked along the deck, a pair of earphones in her ears, holding a Discman. It had been a lot of fun to meet her circus family again, but it was even nicer to be back on the cruise. At the moment, she was listening to the new Red Hot Chili Peppers CD. Swaying slightly to the tune, she made her way to the dining room.

Entering it, she noticed a familiar redhead standing at the water cooler where she was headed. Groaning inwardly, she hovered where she was standing, debating about whether she should stay or come back later.

She was still dithering when Tala turned around. He put his empty glass down and starting walking towards the door.

"Uh, can you get me a glass of water, since you're already there?" blurted Julia. Tala stared at her as if no one had ever asked him to do them a favour before. In fact, his eyebrows had practically disappeared into his hair. Nevertheless, he turned around and filled another glass. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to both of them, Mariah was sitting in the corner watching.

Handing the glass of water to Julia, Tala left the room. She drained her glass in one gulp. She put it back on the table and when she turned around, she came face to face with Mariah. Jumping, she took a few steps back.

"_Never_ do that again," she said, leaning against the wall for support. "So what's up with you? You look as if Christmas has come early."

"No, alas," Mariah said, her grin spreading from ear-to-ear. "Christmas is still three weeks away. But I did notice your little chat with Tala there."

"What little chat?" enquired Julia. "I just asked him for water."

"Sure you did," said Mariah, still with that grin. "So, three weeks… that's a lot of time."

"Yeah… so?" said Julia, beginning to walk.

Mariah fell in step with her. "Plenty of time to ask Tala to come with you to the party."

Julia nearly dropped her discman. "What?" she asked, eyes wide, clutching at the device in her hand. "What are you _talking _about? I think you guys are all trying to freak me out. First Greg, then Miguel, now you."

"But we all know it's true," Mariah cut her babbling short as they exited the room, walking extra fast to keep up with Julia. "We all know you like him." As they walked down the passageway still arguing, Tala stood up. He had stopped to tie his shoelace beside the door and heard the whole conversation. If he had seemed surprised before, it was nothing compared to what he was looking like now.

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A/N: I really enjoyed writing that last part! -cackles- Yeah, three weeks till christmas! Yay! I couldn't resist adding christmas to this story. anyhow, what'd you think? i hope the first part wasn't too forced. that reminds me, I NEED YOUR HELP! Who thinks that Violet should come back and who thinks that she should stay out of the story? please tell me your opinions. 


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Yeah, decided to update. sorry, i've been having exams and packing (we're shifting in a few days) so things've been hectic, you know?

* * *

Raul leaned forward so that he was hanging over the railing. His face was tilted upwards so that it caught the light from the setting sun. He then looked at the pink-haired girl who had just walked up to him.

"Hey, why aren't you watching the movie?" he asked. Everybody else was watching some new horror flick in the living room, but he wasn't particularly interested in it. However, he knew that Matilda had been really excited to see it, so he was surprised to see her standing here instead.

"I could ask you the same question," she replied, her face lighting up with a smile.

"The beginning seemed stupid," he replied, shrugging, "So I assume that the middle and end will be the same."

Her smile faltered. He could see she really wanted to watch the movie. "Well, alright, then," she said determinedly. "I'll keep you company."

"No you won't," he dismissed her offer with a wave of his hand. "You want to see that movie; you've been talking about it forever."

She let out an annoyed huff. "I don't care what you say, I'm keeping you company and you'll like it!" Stubbornly, she leaned on the railing too, still keeping her eyes on his face. His lips twitched as he decided to change tack: embarrass her into leaving.

"Well, of course I'll like it. Why wouldn't I like your company?"

This caught her absolutely off guard. She pushed herself away from the railing. "W-what?"

He, too, straightened up and turned so that he was facing her. "I like your company," he stated simply, raising his eyebrows.

Matilda's face turned red. She glanced away towards the sun, which had now almost completely disappeared over the horizon.

"So you don't like the beginning, huh?" she asked, trying to change the subject. Raul grinned suddenly.

"You're cute when you're embarrassed," he remarked, sure that this would drive her down into the room. Instead, she looked at him angrily.

"That's not funny!" the usually mild-tempered girl snapped.

"What is?" asked Raul, his grin fading.

"You don't say things like that when you don't mean them!"

"But I do mean it," he protested, realizing what she meant. She clearly didn't believe him. "Seriously!" He pulled her into a hug. She stiffened up at first, but gradually relaxed, hugging him back. He grinned and dropped a light kiss into her hair; that was all sorted out. "Let's go watch that movie now, shall we?"

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There were a few raised eyebrows and some sniggering from Miguel when Raul walked in with his arm around Matilda, but mostly there were shushing noises from various parts of the dark room. All eyes were on the screen. Raul sighed and flopped down onto a sofa, ignoring the nudge from his twin. She was obviously much amused.

One and a half excruciating hours later, the movie was finally over. The TV had been switched off and the room had been lit; now everybody had decided to linger there for a while, entertaining themselves.

It was at that moment that Laura Gardner entered the room. Her blue eyes scanned the room before landing on Tala. "I'm not intruding," she said. It wasn't a polite question, merely a stated fact which she had decided to voice. The girl was brimming with arrogance.

"If you say so," muttered Miguel, making Julia, who was sitting across from him, laugh. Laura's head snapped towards them, looking at them once before walking over to Tala.

"Now she'll inform him that the seat beside him isn't taken," said Miguel, with an ill-concealed grin that widened when she did exactly what he had said she would. Tala raised his eyebrows but returned to his book, indicating that he didn't care whether or not she sat next to him. Julia chuckled.

Laura had now sat down beside Tala and was glancing at him repeatedly. She seemed less calm than usual, maybe even a little excited. Salima had mentioned something about Mona and Laura being huge fans of beyblading. Meeting so many world-class bladders would probably have her brewing over with ecstasy.

"Which book are you reading?" she asked suddenly, unable to keep quiet any longer, but not wanting to embarrass herself by showing her excitement.

Tala answered her question without even looking at her. She looked disgruntled, but Julia, who had been watching, felt strangely elated.

"Is she trying to flirt with him?" she whispered to Miguel while moving her pawn on the chessboard that now lay between them.

"Are you jealous?" he replied, his annoying grin reappearing as he took her pawn.

"What is your problem?" she hissed, gritting her teeth at the fact she had lost about seven pieces already. She couldn't keep her mind on the game, for some reason.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll propose sooner or later," he cooed, taking yet another pawn. "God, you're terrible at this game."

"No, I'm not," she replied, irritated. "And stop _saying_ that!"

"Hey, take it easy," he said, smirking as he checkmated her king. "I win."

Julia petulantly pushed the board away. She glanced at Laura and Tala again. Laura was tittering… yes, _tittering_… while Tala looked both faintly annoyed and bored. He looked over at her suddenly, their eyes meeting, and she glowered at him. It wasn't that she was mad _at_ him; Miguel's teasing was getting on her nerves. That was all. He raised his eyebrows at the unexpected show of anger, and turned back to Laura, who was in the middle of a long and involved lecture about the Loch Ness monster.

"I don't believe it exists," he cut the girl's speech short. "Now, I have to go." He snapped his book shut and stood up. Without any "Goodbye, see you around," or anything of the sort, he abruptly left the room. And suddenly Julia wasn't so annoyed any more.

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Salima swept her gaze around the room, bored. It fell on a certain black haired teen who'd been occupying her thoughts a lot. He was seated comfortably on a couch, staring at the ground. He didn't seem to be doing anything, so she decided to go over to him.

Ray looked up when he felt someone sit down on the opposite end of the couch. Salima smiled tentatively at him, which he returned without any hesitation. Suddenly, Salima realized that whenever she and Ray held a 'conversation', it was always her talking and him listening. She didn't really know anything about him at all. And that was just wrong.

"What's your favourite colour?" she asked abruptly. He raised his eyebrows and chuckled at the random question, but she remained adamant. She was going to let him do all the talking today.

"Why do you ask?" he replied, looking like he genuinely wanted to know.

"Well, you see, whenever I try to talk to you," Salima began to ramble before she realized it, but suddenly straightened up. "See? You're doing it again. Stop doing that!"

"Doing what?" he asked, confusion written all over his face. The redhead was acting very strange today; she wasn't her normal placid self.

"Whenever we have a so-called conversation, I end up doing all the talking," she retorted. "I hate that. It must be annoying for you, and besides, I know nothing about you. You probably know what _my_ favourite colour is."

"Yeah…" said Ray, the confusion disappearing, replaced by an expression of amusement. She opened her mouth to rant again, but he covered it with his hand. "But I enjoy listening to you talk."

She blinked twice in a bemused sort of way before he removed his hand with a laugh. A light blush mantled her cheeks. Then, all of a sudden, the stubbornness returned. "I don't care," she said, with a childish pout. "So what is it?"

"I don't know why you need to know my favourite colour," replied Ray. His eyes were twinkling with amusement; he had decided to tease the flustered redhead a little. "It's very irrelevant."

"Well," Salima thought for a moment before continuing, "Christmas is coming near and maybe I want to know what colour to get your gift in." Her tone was unsure; she knew it was a stupid reason. This belief was strengthened when Ray laughed out loud. She coloured. "I just want to know, ok?"

"I'm not going to tell you," countered Ray, his voice now slightly sing song. She looked at him uncertainly. He never behaved this flippantly. It was a refreshing change from normal, but it was also unsettling.

"Are— Are you feeling alright?" she asked, in response to which he smiled, his sharp canine showing to one side of his mouth. Before he could reply, though, Max suddenly dived in between them onto the couch.

"What're you doing?" asked Ray, baffled, staring at the blond who was now burrowing into the sofa.

"Loose… change…." He panted breathlessly. Both of them raised their eyebrows. He seemed oblivious to their bemused looks, as he triumphantly pulled out a few coins. "AHA!" he said, counting them. "Jackpot!" Without another word, he scrambled off the sofa and fled from the room as if he was being chased by tigers.

"Now, you should be asking _him_ that question," Ray said, referring to Salima's former enquiry. She laughed, though still looking bewildered. She was about to reply when suddenly, yet again, they were interrupted by a teen jumping onto the couch. This time it was Tyson. He, too, started to burrow into the sofa.

"You know," Ray said casually, "Max was here a moment ago."

"Oh no!" exclaimed Tyson, wide-eyed. "I need loose change! Dammit!" He made to get off the sofa but Ray reached out and grabbed his collar. "Before going, please explain what you're doing?"

"Max and I are having a competition…" explained Tyson, his gaze shifting nervously. "Scavenger hunt of sorts. And the first item was 4 quarters. And now Max has got 'em all!" He seemed furious; his competitive nature would never allow him to live this down.

"I could give you four quarters if you like," offered Ray, and taking Tyson's thankful expression to mean yes, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a black wallet. Tyson tapped his foot impatiently on the ground. Finally, Ray found the needed amount of coins and placed them into Tyson's outstretched palm. Like Max, Tyson took flight.

"They'll be obsessed with this for days," somebody muttered from behind them. They craned their necks to see Hilary looking vaguely annoyed. "It'll take up all their time and they'll think of nothing else."

"Maybe you could distract them, eh?" said Salima with a sly smile. Hilary looked at her indignantly and she added. "Okay, okay, not both of them… Just Tyson." She grinned when Hilary's expression darkened angrily and she stalked off.

"This is the weirdest day I've ever had," muttered Ray, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Excusing himself from his companion, he left the room. Salima chuckled lightheartedly, once again looking around the room. It was deliciously warm and comfortable and the atmosphere was friendly. Hilary had stormed out of the room, only to have her bean bag occupied by Enrique, who was chatting animatedly to somebody on his cell phone. He caught her looking at her and grinned, waggling his eyebrows. She rolled her eyes in return.

To his right, Miriam was pointing something out to Joseph in a magazine, in response to which he wrinkled his nose and swatted it away. Miriam giggled at her brother's antics. At the opposite side of the room, Matilda signaled to her that she wanted to see the article. Matilda was sitting comfortably on the floor, head resting on a sofa. Raul was fast asleep on said sofa. As Salima watched, Miriam unceremoniously hurled the magazine across the room; anyone in the way had to duck. Matilda clutched wildly at it but missed, and it hit Raul instead, who promptly fell off the sofa. Laughter filled the room as he got up, bemused.

It was weird, but this cruise was beginning to feel like home.

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A/N: Yeah, i was afflicted with indecision whether to post this chapter or not. Hopefully it wasn't a total disappointment. Please review; hope you guys haven't abandoned me due to my lack of updates!!! 


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: I didn't make you guys wait so long this time. Good for me! Lol. Last time, only two people bothered to review. I guess the longer you make people wait, the less they review. Which sucks.

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"Tyson Granger!" exclaimed Hilary, stomping into the room, hands balled into fists. The only people in the room apart from Tyson were Ray and Max, and, seeing that an argument was brewing up, they hurriedly got up and left the room. Tyson watched them leave and then, muttering something about traitors, faced Hilary, still sitting down.

"You're in my way," he said. She looked confused for a moment, but then realized that he was talking about the TV. She huffed angrily and switched the TV off from where she was standing. "You can't do that!" he exclaimed in outrage, gripping the remote tightly.

"I can and did!" she replied, her face contorted with fury. Suddenly, Tyson's demeanor changed from that of annoyance to resignation. He sank into the sofa and looked at her rather moodily.

"Ok, what'd I do?" he asked with an exaggerated sigh. She looked pretty angry for someone who had had a civilized conversation with him only an hour ago.

"Well, you've been so strange lately!" replied Hilary, looking a bit puzzled. "I mean, it's not one thing in particular, but…" She suddenly crossed the room to where he was sitting and prodded his forehead with her finger. He looked up at her, his expression slightly alarmed, and sank further into the couch. "What is going on in there?"

"I don't think I'm the one who's been acting strange," he replied defensively. She opened her mouth to say something, but he held up a hand to stop her. "Sit down, at least, and discuss this properly… without yelling." She took a seat beside him. She closed her eyes for a moment, as if trying to formulate a 'proper' response. "You were fine an hour ago, what'd I do?"

"That conversation!" she said, her eyes snapping open suddenly. "Yes, that's what made me angry in the first place, you idiot!" Tyson furrowed his brow. From what he could gather, there had been nothing wrong with the conversation. About a week ago, he had decided to be extremely civil to Hilary; that way they wouldn't have as many arguments. Following this pact, he had been extremely polite. She had asked him what he was doing, and he had said nothing, but he might watch some TV later. Then they had remained silent for a few moments, and Hilary had left soon after. No, there had been nothing wrong with the conversation. "Why were you so _distant_?"

"Distant?" he asked icily. "I believe the term is _polite_."

Hilary scoffed. "Oh, come on. When were you ever bothered about being polite?"

"See, that just goes to show how little you know about me, despite the fact we've known each other since eighth grade." Tyson looked pretty annoyed. He had been at the receiving end of teasing from most of his friends lately, and the brunette was the centre of that teasing. Yes, he _had_ been a little distant, but who wouldn't be when three or four people's smirks could be felt boring into the back of their head? "Maybe if you opened yourself up to the fact that I might be a _little _more mature than I was back then, you—"

He stopped because of the look on Hilary's face. She looked surprised, annoyed and hurt. Why did she look hurt? He felt very frustrated. What was with this girl? She had the most violent mood swings imaginable. And why did he care, anyway?

_"Because she matters,"_ said a snide little voice in his head. _"But you're not willing to admit it, because you're a coward."_ He shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked at the brunette again. "Hey, can I ask you something?" he asked softly, deciding to prove the voice wrong once and for all. She nodded quietly, still looking confused. "Do people tease you a lot?"

"Well…" she bit her lip, going pink. "Yeah. I don't know what it is. Do I invite teasing? It's as if—"

"What do they tease you about?" asked Tyson, cutting her off.

She let out a rather high pitched laugh. "Well, not that it matters or anything, but they tease me about you an awful lot." She shot a sidelong glance at him. "Not that there's any basis for it," she added hurriedly.

"You know, people tease me about you too," sad Tyson thoughtfully. "What if there _is _a basis? Or are they all idiots?" Hilary opened her mouth, surely to say that she was more inclined towards the latter, but he quickly added, "Think about it."

She flushed brightly, but didn't say anything. Instead, she thought about it seriously. She did like Tyson, but as more than a friend? One part of her said of course not!... but the other, more prominent part said it was true. She looked over at him. He was leaning back, studying the ceiling.

"Maybe," she conceded in a small, embarrassed voice. He grinned at her suddenly and inched closer.

"Hey, I'm gonna need a much more definite answer than that," he said teasingly. She smiled back at him.

"Sorry," she replied in the same tone. "You're not going to get anything more definite than _that_." He inched even closer.

"That's what you think…" he said, leaning in towards her. Suddenly, the door burst open and Ray and Max walked in. When they saw Tyson and Hilary sitting only a few inches apart, grinning at each other, they stopped in their tracks.

"Well, will you look at the time?" said Max hastily, checking his watch. "I have to go."

"Yeah, me too," replied Ray with a nervous smile, carefully not looking at Tyson or Hilary, who were watching the two of them with amusement. They both backed out of the room, chattering nonstop. Closing the door behind them, Max shot Ray a look that clearly said, "What the heck?!" and they parted ways.

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"It was embarrassing," said Max, covering his face with his hands.

"Must've been," replied Miriam sympathetically, reaching out and ruffling his hair. He flicked her hand away. "Hey!" she said playfully, trying to do it again. He caught both her hands in his own, removing them from his face in the process. Miriam decided to give up, trying not to think of the fact that Max had nice hands. "What did you say when you entered the room then?"

He grimaced, releasing one hand to rub the back of his head. "Well," he said reluctantly. It couldn't be said that he had handled the situation very well. In fact, it couldn't be said that he had handled it at _all_. "I said it was late and I had to go… or something to that effect." Miriam's green eyes widened incredulously as she glanced at her watch.

"It was late?" she repeated. "Your definition of late is four o'clock in the afternoon?" Max shrugged sheepishly, unable to find an excuse for his weirdness. "Clever, Max, real clever." She rolled her eyes as he flushed and muttered something. They remained silent for a while.

"Hey, have you ever really felt so afraid to tell someone something that you just…" Max trailed off, searching for words. "Well, that you just don't tell them?" Miriam looked vaguely surprised at the random question. She thought for a moment, neither of them noticing that they were still holding hands.

"What exactly are you referring to?" she asked finally, raising an eyebrow. Max shrugged again, his blue eyes twinkling cheerfully.

"Anything you want," he replied. Mentally, he was cursing himself for asking her the question out of the blue. She might suspect something. But maybe he wanted her to suspect something? Maybe it would make his task so much easier if a suspicion could be created in her mind? "Yep. Anything. Like, take Tyson and Hilary's situation. Both of them were positively terrified of telling each other, but apparently, they finally got the guts…Am I not making sense?" Miriam laughed at this anxious question.

"You're making sense," she replied slowly. "But they eventually told each other anyway, didn't they? I guess you can never keep a thing inside yourself forever." She watched a look of slight alarm spreading over Max's face.

"Then I guess I'd better tell you someth—" he broke off suddenly as Ray entered the room. Ray looked horrified. "Why me?" he muttered, before doing exactly what Max had done only some while before. He looked at his watch and was about to say something when Max stood up, dropping Miriam's hand as if it was scalding him, and said, "What's up, Ray?"

Ray lowered his hand, looking relieved. "Oh, nothing," he replied. "Sorry about that, by the way," he said, looking at Miriam. "I'm a bit paranoid, I guess."

"No problem," she replied, shrugging. "What were you saying, Max?"

"Oh, that," said Max, racking his brain for what to tell her. "Well, I'm going on deck. D'you want to come?"

"Uh, sure," replied Miriam, puzzled. She was sure he had been saying something else, but she decided to let it drop. Max darted out of the door before her and held it open for her. She looked at him in surprise, in response to which he grinned teasingly.

"I have to protect my nose," he explained, dodging her attempted whack on the back of his head.

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"Life is cruel," announced Julia dramatically to what she assumed was an empty room. She had been wandering around aimlessly for quite some time, feeling, for some reason, rather down, and she had walked into the dining room in the end.

"Why is that?" came a voice quite close to her. She jumped, almost falling out of her chair, and turned to face the voice. It was Tala; she had already recognized his voice. She screwed her eyes up tightly.

"This isn't happening," she muttered, a little louder than she had planned.

"It just did," replied Tala. He had been taking water from the corner of the room; therefore she had not seen him. He now sauntered over to her, one hand holding a half-empty glass, and the other thrust into his pocket. He took a seat beside her and looked at her casually.

She opened her eyes and looked at him warily. "I don't know," she said cautiously, in reply to his question. "It just is. Very, very cruel."

He smirked, amused. "Why?" he repeated himself, draining his glass. She thought about it. She had been feeling down in the dumps, yes, but why? That, she didn't know. It was odd, to say the least.

"I was just feeling kind of down," she replied. Then, rather defensively, she added, "I don't normally talk to myself, you know." Tala's smirk widened to a grin. Then, suddenly, his face darkened. Julia studied his face, taken aback by this sudden change in expression.

"Something tells me I'm not the only one who thinks life is cruel," she remarked casually, with a note of triumph in her voice. She'd caught him, and now she'd force him to tell her one of _his_ problems, for once.

"You're not," he replied shortly, looking at her expressionlessly. She looked snubbed, and a wave of remorse swept over him. Was he going soft? He got up abruptly, pushing the chair away from the table. She followed suit, looking puzzled. He hesitated before saying, "Don't be offended." Not giving her any time to react to this unlikely statement, he left the room. He paused at the doorway before doing so, however, and said over his shoulder, "See you around." He left Julia racking her brains as to what he could've thought of that changed his mood so suddenly? And she struck on the right thing: he must have been reminded of the Abbey in some way. Maybe it was something she had said…

She groaned out loud and said to the room that she now knew was empty, "Life_ is _cruel."

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A/N: do not question the weirdness... Lol. I rewrote this chapter about 5 times. I think I'm pretty much satisfied with it now. Review...It's not that hard, you know. 


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